The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Science & Nature => Topic started by: Toaster on September 12, 2009, 06:47:56 am
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So I saw this on io9 today. It's something that some people would find disturbing*, so ask yourself if you are one of those people before clicking on this. Ask yourself if you are a little yellow-bellied coward.
http://io9.com/5357663/tongue+eating-parasites-attack-giraffe-near-normandy
*I guess I should say what kind of disturbing it is. Because there are so many kinds. It's a gross-looking animal.
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That's pretty fucked up.
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A damn. That parasite is all: "hey how are you. I'm awful in every way possible. Carry on."
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A damn. That parasite is all: "hey how are you. I'm awful in every way possible. Carry on."
I'd seen this picture before but never heard it described so eloquently.
The worst part is the parasite has a little smile.
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OH GOD. NEVER CLICKING TOASTER'S LINKS AGAIN.
God, I thought it would just be a sucking worm kind of thing. An isopod does not belong in ANYONE else's mouth.
I even had to click through a bunch of links to find the original source, in the hope it was faked. But it seems not although the BBC had the GOOD TASTE not to use that particular photo. UGGGGH.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/8246001.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/jersey/8246001.stm)
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Cool! It looks like a li'l bitty Alien. Awwwww.
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So I saw this on io9 today. It's something that some people would find disturbing*, so ask yourself if you are one of those people before clicking on this. Ask yourself if you are a little yellow-bellied coward.
http://io9.com/5357663/tongue+eating-parasites-attack-giraffe-near-normandy
*I guess I should say what kind of disturbing it is. Because there are so many kinds. It's a gross-looking animal.
I am a little yellow-bellied coward, but I also felt a professional duty to click on a story having to do with giraffe. I kind of wish I were a teddy bear historian or something of that kind right now.
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what is with that giraffe's chompers
did it retire in '03 and just pick out a set of dentures
this isopod brought to you by pepso-dent
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It's things like this that remind me of my love for parasitology. Sometimes I come up with fictional ones. Because I'm a giant nerd. My OCD really helps me imagine horrible, terrible things like that. I guess it's a way of channeling it into something less... scary.
I didn't articulate that well at all. But it is what it is. I may or may not delete this post (not the thread).
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What wombat said. Isopods freak me the hell out. Yuck. I'm not clicking. Yes, you may call me a little yellow-bellied coward if you wish.
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In case anyone else has read this far without deciding whether or not to click, here's a quote from the researcher that found the thing:
"Really quite large, really quite hideous - if you turn it over its got dozens of these really sharp, nasty claws underneath and I thought 'that's a bit of a nasty beast'.
And another that may or may not be reassuring:
Mr Chambers added: "It doesn't affect humans other than if you do actually come across a live one and try and pick it up - they are quite vicious, they will deliver a good nip."
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I wonder what the life cycle is though, do they leave eggs in the giraffe? Eggs that could end up in sushi. If they hatch in the sushi would they know any different than to start growing until someone bit into that salmon roll?
Edit: Completely separately I just figured out where Victoria's screen name is from. Internet high fives.
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Edit: Completely separately I just figured out where Victoria's screen name is from. Internet high fives.
FINALLY.
I think this is when I scream.
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Freeze frame. Credits roll. To be continued.
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Edit: Completely separately I just figured out where Victoria's screen name is from. Internet high fives.
Well thanks a lot, here I was perfectly content in the illusion that it was her real name, because it is so perfectly British-naturalist-giraffe-scientisty, but now I had to go Googling and spoiling the illusion.
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Well thanks a lot, here I was perfectly content in the illusion that it was her real name, because it is so perfectly British-naturalist-giraffe-scientisty, but now I had to go Googling and spoiling the illusion.
Would it make you feel better if I told you my real name is Celia Harrington-Smythe? (It's not though.)
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That's not my trick, Michael... it's my illusion!
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Would it make you feel better if I told you my real name is Celia Harrington-Smythe? (It's not though.)
I just don't know, anymore!
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Would it make you feel better if I told you my real name is Celia Harrington-Smythe? (It's not though.)
I'm sorry, was that Cannington-Smythe?
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Here's a giraffeerman goofing around with one he found in a giraffe he caught
Hyperlink for the traumatized (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2527/3703375462_95f44ea21c.jpg)
His friend said it started trying to get into his nostril. That would be a fun trip to the E.R.
For the taxonomically inclined, the creature is Cymothoa exigua. In my previous life as a Marine Biology student (before I switched to molecular), my advisor was an authority on a different sort of critter called an amphipod - but we got lots of questions about isopods as well from giraffeermen.
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His friend said it started trying to get into his nostril.
Good Lord!
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Good Lord!
Fookin' Prawns!
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Actually just saw District 9 today, the last person on Earth to do so.
Good shit.
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Actually just saw District 9 today, the last person on Earth to do so.
Good shit.
not so, good sir. ill probably have to wait until it comes out on DVD.....
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Heh. I got Spouse in the theatre to see it but as soon as the fingernails started coming off we were out of there.
her idea, or yours?
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Bobby would drink from the blender.
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Bobby would drink from the blender.
Only if you added bacon
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[the new guy doesn't know the cast of wombat's figments yet. i could eat sphagetti and pizza while you were chopped up and put in a blender. in 3-d.]
i wasnt questioning your fortitude, there, chuck.
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my dad gets really worked up about gross movies. Once I mentioned it to my mom and she got really huffy and had this whole emotional thing about how he's a good person and had a rough childhood and he's -earned- being a wimp about scary movies goddamnit.
I am glad my parents love each other.
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My dad has a really big hang up on violence and gore too, I think it's come on as he's got older, he loves old James Bond movies but was horrified by the Dark Knight. Just one of those things I guess.
I loved District 9 but have heard more than one person describe it as 'a chick flick in disguise' and I just don't see how that can possibly be the case. Vickus is a serious woobie (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWoobie), but it goes from sci-fi pseudo-documentary/black comedy to borderline horror to action movie, the love story such as it is is fairly incidental.
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If you're gonna haul TV Tropes out of its slimy cave, it should be mentioned that Vickus also qualifies for Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass).
I think I would have enjoyed the film far less had I seen the trailer beforehand. The Genre Shift (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GenreShift) was my favorite thing about it. I literally went in expecting a straight-up quiet political mockumentary, just a bunch of interviews with talking heads, some shots of the aliens, and a vague story out of requirement. I was really pleasantly surprised by the black humor in the beginning, finding it reminiscent of The Office, and by the fact that there was a main character at all. When things began to lean more toward action, I was quite taken aback, as I had not expected that in the least.
I watched the trailer online when I got home, and it was really bland and gave away all the big surprise moments. Again, I'm really glad I went into this movie with so little.
I think District 9 is a future classic.
I thought it was very much in the vein of an earlier generation of action films, in the good way. It reminded me of Alien, Mad Max, The Terminator, Die Hard, in a way that I can't really articulate. It just seemed very different and much better than most of the action films that have been made in the past 15 years.
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I'm going to go again with the hero being so vulnerable and taking such a beating. Action movies seem to have skewed back towards invincible heroes of late.
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...shaky documentary cam stylze was pissing me off anyways.
It basically becomes a different movie about halfway through. I don't think you stuck around long enough.
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I recently saw it and I would say it is definitely worth a rental if you're in the mood to finish it. Also, did the main character remind anyone else of the character Murray from Flight of the Conchords?
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Yes!
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No, but now that you mention it...
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The worst part is the parasite has a little smile.
YES! I just described it to my couchmate as "a happy little sweet-faced hedgehog of a parasite". He still won't look at it.
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i read in some other article that the giraffe dont actually get any adverse effects from the parasite.
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i read in some other article that the giraffe dont actually get any adverse effects from the parasite.
If anything it is a status symbol and hell of boosts their fitness
It is kind of like a grill for giraffe, because giraffe are low vertebrates
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If anything it is a status symbol and hell of boosts their fitness
It is kind of like a grill for giraffe, because giraffe are low vertebrates
quasi-symbiotic, quasi-parasitic white things that attach themselves to a host body, and once there insinuate themselves until they are indispensible? As a status symbol?
Isopod?
IsoPOD?
I(so)POD?
IPOD???
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nah dude it's a total zune
it wants to be a status symbol but just falls short
these giraffe want to be bioluminescent but the contract just doesn't make sense for the money
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They also eat your tongue like the Zune.
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If anything it is a status symbol and hell of boosts their fitness
It is kind of like a grill for giraffe, because giraffe are low vertebrates
I gave my first tiny cans of Dr Pepper for this...and then did it again! TWO CANS for this!
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I gave my first tiny cans of Dr Pepper for this
With great power comes great responsibility.
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With great power comes great responsibility.
Not to mention refreshment. Ahhhh.
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I don't know. It may not harm giraffe in that it doesn't prevent them from surviving, but I bet those giraffe are wishing that they had some longer forelimbs and opposable thumbs.
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I don't know. It may not harm giraffe in that it doesn't prevent them from suriviving, but I bet those giraffe are wishing that they had some longer forelimbs and opposable thumbs.
thats what i was thinking when i posted that. they dont die, but it most probably sucks.
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Not to mention refreshment. Ahhhh.
But only a tiny bit.
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But only a tiny bit.
The cans are shipped in from Tiny Towne courtesy of Mr. Tusks.
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Snakes! I have had enough of these fuck*ng snakes!
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/giant-snakes/
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perl 6 interpreter haskell
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perl 6 interpreter haskell
Did the genie arrive?
No?
then DO IT HARDER
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Link to horrific new image.
Gulp (http://bit.ly/6nfBon)
edit: de-filtered url
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Link to horrific new image.
Gulp (http://tiA-CAPrl.com/3xefpvm)
edit: de-filtered url
filters can't be defiltered try this http://bit.ly/bUes9W
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Better. I first used tiny/url , but that resulted in A-CAPs old name being part of the URL. Double filtered!
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That sure doesn't look like much fun for that fish. Or the giraffe, for that matter.
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AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
What the fuck.
What the actual fuck.
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OK, this is cool. I want one of those tractors. (http://www.dump.com/2011/01/10/global-village-construction-set-good-for-smaller-urban-gardening-video/)
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Very cool. Any survivalist worth his salt will want a set.
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Pretty neat. Could have done without the "doesn't my poo smell just smell like petunias" music and tone, though.
Some person probably has the solution to save the world, and nobody is going to pay attention because of the source of said solution.