yego.me
yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

'Zombie' Parasite Cordyceps Fungus Takes Over Insects Through Mind Control | National Geographic

less than 1m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Fungi and slime molds race to decompose dead matter on the forest floor. Many spread by releasing spores up to thirty thousand a second. (scary music)

If just one of these spores lands in the right place, and takes root, it can colonize a whole new area. (scary music)

But not all fungi feed on the dead. (scary music) Days ago, a spore landed on this ant, now she's acting strange. A network of roots has infiltrated her muscles. Her body has been taken over by cordyceps, a parasitic fungus. It floods her brain with chemicals, drugging her, compelling her to head where conditions are perfect. (scary music)

Just the right amount of light. Just the right amount of humidity for the parasite growing inside. It forces her to clamp down in a death bite. And cordyceps reveals its gruesome nature. (scary music)

After three weeks of growth, cordyceps can release its own spores. Infecting more ants. Releasing more spores. Infecting more ants. Releasing more spores. Infecting more ants. Infecting more ants. More ants. More ants. More ants. (scary music)

Cordyceps can wipe out entire ant colonies. But more than just ants are at risk. (scary music)

There are over six hundred species of cordyceps spread across the world. Most are found in jungles where they prey on a whole host of victims. (scary music)

How Large Can a Bacteria get? Life & Size 3
URGENT: Federal Reserve ENDS Rate Hikes, Prices Fall, Massive Pivot Ahead!

More Articles

View All
Example of shapes on a coordinate plane
So we’re told here the four corners of a rectangle are located at the points (1, 1), (1, 6), (9, 6), and (9, 1). Plot the four corners of the rectangle on the coordinate plane below, and they gave us these four points. We can move them around with our mou…
How did Russia begin? | 1450 - Present | AP US History | Khan Academy
What we’re going to talk about in this video are the origins of the Russian people, and in particular, we’re going to talk about the eastern Slavs, whom not just modern Russians, but also Ukrainians and Belarusians view as their ancestors. So, let’s thin…
Golden age of Islam | World History | Khan Academy
[Instructor] In other videos we talk about the rapid spread of Islam, and one of the interesting things about these early Islamic empires is they preserved much of what they inherited from the Byzantine and the Persian empires. The infrastructure, includi…
Free response example: Significance test for a mean | AP Statistics | Khan Academy
Regulations require that product labels on containers of food that are available for sale to the public accurately state the amount of food in those containers. Specifically, if milk containers are labeled to have 128 fluid ounces and the mean number of f…
The Lost Colony of Roanoke - background and first attempts
Hello Kim. Hey David! So let’s talk about the lost colony at Roanoke. This is something I’ve been learning a lot about lately, and I think it’s really interesting. You know, we often think about this just in terms of the spookiness of there’s this colony…
15 Brutal TRUTHS People Don't Want To Hear
[Music] This is the Sunday motivational video. Every Sunday, we bring you a different type of video which should improve your life. Today, we’re looking at 15 brutal truths that people don’t want to hear. Welcome to a lox calm, the place where future bill…