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)

Why it's so hard to be happy
Venturing into the Heart of Manila | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic

More Articles

View All
Peatlands Critical In Climate Change Fight | National Geographic
[Music] Nice. Yeah, really. PC, my name is Brett Azhagi, and I’m a postdoctoral researcher. We’re here to study the peatlands; you compare it to other soils. Peat is really carbon dense; it’s made up of partially decomposed plant material. All the carbon…
Charlie Munger: Investing During the 2023 Recession
If you think we might have on and off waves of inflation like we did prior to when Volcker stepped in at the Fed, the 70s era, of course it will happen some in the future. Yes, I think we’ll have some of that in the future. I think more inflation over th…
Steve Jobs in Sweden, 1985 [HQ]
[Music] Glad to meet you. [Applause] The doors have been locked and all of you that don’t sign up to buy computers will stay here, and we will bring back the singers. I am extraordinarily pleased to be able to be here with you. This is one of my perso…
Ionic solids | Intermolecular forces and properties | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy
Let’s talk a little bit about ionic solids, which you can imagine are solids formed by ions. So let’s think a little bit about these ions. For example, we could look at group one elements here, especially things like lithium, sodium, or potassium. In many…
Cooling Cities By Throwing Shade | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
It’s a hot breezy summer day in Los Angeles. I’m just recording the sounds of my neighborhood here in the Huntington Park neighborhood. You might see a woman named Eileen Garcia driving from tree to tree, trying to give them some much-needed relief from t…
More problems with knowing the 'fundamental nature' of X
Npg85 made a video in which he offered an alternative way of trying to distill the fundamental essence of the process. In his video, he used the example of a computer speaker to illustrate his thinking. So I’m going to use the same example to demonstrate …