Parasite tales: The jewel wasp's zombie slave - Carl Zimmer
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This is stranger than science fiction. The jewel wasp and the cockroach have a disgusting and fascinating parasitic relationship. The jewel wasp stuns the cockroach, and months later, a jewel wasp hatches out of the cockroach. At TEDYouth 2012, Carl Zimmer walks us through how this happens and why it personally fascinates him.
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Onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness and Robles disease, is a parasitic disease caused by infection by Onchocerca volvulus, a nematode (roundworm).Frederic Libersat of Ben Gurion University in Israel wrote a paper on the emerald wasp and the free will of cockroaches. Carl Zimmer's blog post about Libersat's work.A scary video of the Emerals Wasp.
A zombie is an "animated corpse resurrected by mystical means, such as witchcraft". The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli. Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired notable popularity, especially in North American and European folklore.Diagnosing a zombie: Brain and body - Tim Verstynen & Bradley Voytek
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