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 secure is 256 bit security?
Is Getting Into Business With Family A Mistake? | New York Live

More Articles

View All
When Family Secrets (And Soap Operas) Fuel Creativity | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
I think when I think about my childhood, it feels split. There’s my childhood in Moscow and my childhood in Armenia, which came at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. So my first memory is of us standing in breadlines. My second memory is of us …
Earth's changing climate | Earth and society | Middle school Earth and space science | Khan Academy
Have you ever tried to imagine what the world was like in the distant past? Maybe you’d like to explore the age of the dinosaurs, when the Earth was much hotter than it was today. Perhaps you’d prefer when temperatures dropped to much colder than today. Y…
How do writers use examples to get their points across? | Reading | Khan Academy
[David] Hello, readers. Today I wanna talk about examples and how writers use them in informational text. As writers, we employ examples to help explain ideas. And as readers, we use those examples to grab hold of those ideas and better understand them. …
How to Build a Dyson Sphere - The Ultimate Megastructure
Human history is told by the energy we use. At first, we had to use our muscles, then we learned to control fire. We industrialized the world using coal and oil and entered the Atomic Age when we learned how to split a nucleus. At each step, we increased …
Balloons on the River - (Decatur - Sufjan Stevens) Alabama Jubilee
One two three [Music] four. Our stepmom, we did everything to hate her. She took us down to the edge of the theater. We saw the lion and the kangaroo. Take her down to the river where they call the wild. [Music] Alligator singing man overflow C the mudl o…
Wicked Laugh | Wicked Tuna
There’s your balloon ball! Get that! The wicked pissah team fell apart for a little bit, but now we’re running on all cylinders. We had a great week last week; we had a really good time. We caught two fish through at a time on the pizza. We made 16 grand;…