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16-01-2015, 03:40 AM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
http://www.breakingbio.org/halloween...-spelled-doom/ (http://www.breakingbio.org/halloween-2014-humanity-spelled-doom/)
2014 -When Humanity spelled its own doom
Zombies.
We saw it coming, but had prepared all wrong. We thought it was just a joke.
Who knew that the apocalypse had been evolving around us, that the biological puzzle pieces spelling our doom were just waiting to be linked.
Forget viruses. Forget about contagious epidemics, quarantines and cures. It was already inside of us,
Waiting.
Biding its time….
How it began
In June of 2014, Brazil hosted the World Cup. Over the 32 day event, fans from all over the world packed into crowded stadiums to catch a glimpse of their favorite players in action.
One of these stadiums was built in the city of Manus, a relatively large urban center hugging the Amazonian rain forest – possibly the most marvelous and mysterious natural wonder in the world.
Of the many biological enigmas found in this part of the world, Ophiocordyceps unilateralie is probably one of the most terrifyingly fascinating; it is a parasitic fungus with the ability to infect and control the mind of certain insects (made famous by the BBC program Planet Earth). Unilateralies uses its victims as both nourishment and as a vessel to propagate.
If the wind conditions are just right, this fungus can disperse spores hundreds or even thousands of miles away!
In mid-June, the conditions were just right.
Millions of fans found themselves unknowingly covered with these microscopic spores.
Luckily for us, they can’t infect humans, but our luck stopped there.
Conditions were also just right for the spread of a related species -Ophiocordyceps zombicus.
That day, World Cup fans became vectors of the worst plague our species has ever seen.
The Spread
The first outbreaks had gone unnoticed.
They affected the poverty-stricken people of Manus – third-world communities that supplied the cheap labor for the World Cup’s festivities. Roughly three years beforehand, a group of workers had been sent to an unexplored region of the rain forest to excavate locations for a new soccer facility. The digging exposed a reservoir of the Ophiocordyceps zombicus fungal spores.
Fungi are special among the microorganisms and viruses – the spores they generate can live for an almost infinite amount of time. They can be exposed to extreme temperatures, pressures, and even complete desiccation. Because of this, we have no idea when that reservoir of Ophiocordyceps zombicus was spawned, we only know that it is here to stay.
These tainted workers unconsciously carried millions of spores back to their families and friends.
Throughout the following months, many cases of a ‘sleeping sickness-like disease’ cropped up in Manus. The illness was marked by a sudden transformation. Victims suffered from amnesia, loss of fine motor control, listlessness, fever, and frontal cortex suppression. Some died, usually from malnutrition. Soon after, strange mushroom-like growths would sprout from their lifeless bodies. No explanation was given – locals believed it was a punishment from god.
In a short matter of time, it became impossible to ignore, but the games were approaching. The only choice for local officials was to suppress the media. News that could potentially impact the financial interests of those running the World Cup were to be avoided at all costs.
The Beginning of the end
Early victims of this mysterious disease were harmless enough- almost catatonic. But, like all diseases, Ophiocordyceps zombicus was destined to evolve.
Over many months of infectious cycles, the fungi learned how to survive longer and spread more effectively. In doing so, the fungal spores tightened their grasp on the complex neural pathways of the human beings they infected until they were completely enslaved by the microorganism.
The World Cup granted an incredibly fortuitous Darwinian advantage to zombicus – it was able to synchronize the time of infection across a huge diversity of 1st world citizens.
After a prolonged period of latency, the “outbreak” struck out of no where. Every major city – Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Sydney, etc., was hit over the course of 3-4 days.
In some ways, it resembled your typical “Hollywood” Zombie scenario, with people transforming into aggressive, predatory animals within seconds of being bitten by the infected.
In other ways, it was unlike anything we could have imagined. Seemingly healthy people would suddenly be altered – a sneeze, or a even a kiss was enough to activate it.
Shrill screams echoed through the streets… families were torn asunder as dead bodies lay everywhere.
It was not an ‘us against them’ type of scenario. It was the sum of all fears…
How it works
Ophiocordyceps zombicus spores, similar to their insect-targeting counterparts, enter and propagate themselves in the respiratory system. Once inside the organism, they germinate and spread to several major organs, but always manifest themselves in the brain and salivary glands.
The spores may lie dormant for months; one expert suggests the average dormancy is about 35 weeks – then the symptoms begin.
To control the host organism, the germinated spores express potent amphetamine analogs. These small molecules hyper-stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (flight or flight response), leaving the host disoriented, paranoid, and extremely aggressive.
It was recently discovered that some of these small molecules resemble synthetic cathinone (bath salts), a fact which may explain accounts of hallucinations and self-mutilation.
One unique characteristic of this zombicus is the observation that the host seems to have a desire to cannibalize members of its own species. Although the exact mechanism that arouses this behavior is unknown, one plausible theory has been developed.
It is well accepted that the ability to exchange genetic information is a great advantage to many organisms. Fungi have also the ability to exchange genetic information, but must be in close proximity.
It is believed that Ophiocordyceps zombicus programs the host to attack and expose the germinated fungus within another host, which would be most abundant in the brain and salivary glands. When one infected host feeds on another, the fungi are able to interact, exchange genetic information, and sporulate. Unfortunately for us, there seems to be no bias for either infected or uninfected individuals –to an infected host, anyone is a possible source…
Your survival
In every Hollywood zombie scenario, masculine science figures were able to make the cure within a few days of reaching a deserted research center. As it turns out, every major infectious disease laboratory in the world is located in populated urban areas. These are off limits.
We always thought that a zombie disease would be a virus, something like rabies. As it turns out, even the fastest viruses cannot control the host until several hours after exposure, if not days. Here, the zombicus fungus had a major advantage – speed.
The next difficulty is that fungal infections are extremely difficult to treat because, like humans, fungi are also Eukaryotes. This means they have similar cellular structures and features. Furthermore, anti-fungal research has never been a popular topic – research has been limited to common fungi such as those that cause yeast infections, ringworm, or toenail fungus.
The most ironic twist of all was that we quickly realized that the burgeoning science PhD population was perhaps the most ill-equipped type of people to survive any catastrophic events.
All of this compounded to make the search for the cure nearly impossible.
The few remaining scientists and survivalists soon discovered the fundamental physiological limitations of the fungus – constant neurological stimulation of its victims created huge energy debts that had to fulfilled by eating. The victims were also still susceptible to normal human afflictions – older or less fit victims often suffered coronary angina or stroke within the first few hours of activation.
This made isolation the best option.
The last remaining remnants of civilization spread to rural areas. A few made it to Acadia National Park in Maine, the location of perhaps the most isolated research lab in the world – The Jackson Laboratory.
Primarily devoted to breeding mice, the Jackson Lab harbors many types of anti-fungals. Some of these were found to be marginally effective in preventing activation of the spores, but did nothing to rid a human of the infection.
News got out about these agents. Vivarium stores were raided and some people chronically self-treated with these anti-fungals. As soon as the local supply ran out, people were again left vulnerable to zombicus.
The Future
We have been left on our own. All major industrial supplies that could be used to scale up production of the anti-fungal have been depleted.
In the meantime, to ensure that you do not propagate a sporulation event, no exchange of body fluids should be risked. This includes kissing, sex, or blood exchange of any sort.
It’s a grim future, but we brought it upon ourselves.
About the author Kenric Hoegler
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?198106-Because-of-World-Cup-2014-we-are-all-going-to-die-it-s-inside-of-us-waiting&goto=newpost).
http://www.breakingbio.org/halloween...-spelled-doom/ (http://www.breakingbio.org/halloween-2014-humanity-spelled-doom/)
2014 -When Humanity spelled its own doom
Zombies.
We saw it coming, but had prepared all wrong. We thought it was just a joke.
Who knew that the apocalypse had been evolving around us, that the biological puzzle pieces spelling our doom were just waiting to be linked.
Forget viruses. Forget about contagious epidemics, quarantines and cures. It was already inside of us,
Waiting.
Biding its time….
How it began
In June of 2014, Brazil hosted the World Cup. Over the 32 day event, fans from all over the world packed into crowded stadiums to catch a glimpse of their favorite players in action.
One of these stadiums was built in the city of Manus, a relatively large urban center hugging the Amazonian rain forest – possibly the most marvelous and mysterious natural wonder in the world.
Of the many biological enigmas found in this part of the world, Ophiocordyceps unilateralie is probably one of the most terrifyingly fascinating; it is a parasitic fungus with the ability to infect and control the mind of certain insects (made famous by the BBC program Planet Earth). Unilateralies uses its victims as both nourishment and as a vessel to propagate.
If the wind conditions are just right, this fungus can disperse spores hundreds or even thousands of miles away!
In mid-June, the conditions were just right.
Millions of fans found themselves unknowingly covered with these microscopic spores.
Luckily for us, they can’t infect humans, but our luck stopped there.
Conditions were also just right for the spread of a related species -Ophiocordyceps zombicus.
That day, World Cup fans became vectors of the worst plague our species has ever seen.
The Spread
The first outbreaks had gone unnoticed.
They affected the poverty-stricken people of Manus – third-world communities that supplied the cheap labor for the World Cup’s festivities. Roughly three years beforehand, a group of workers had been sent to an unexplored region of the rain forest to excavate locations for a new soccer facility. The digging exposed a reservoir of the Ophiocordyceps zombicus fungal spores.
Fungi are special among the microorganisms and viruses – the spores they generate can live for an almost infinite amount of time. They can be exposed to extreme temperatures, pressures, and even complete desiccation. Because of this, we have no idea when that reservoir of Ophiocordyceps zombicus was spawned, we only know that it is here to stay.
These tainted workers unconsciously carried millions of spores back to their families and friends.
Throughout the following months, many cases of a ‘sleeping sickness-like disease’ cropped up in Manus. The illness was marked by a sudden transformation. Victims suffered from amnesia, loss of fine motor control, listlessness, fever, and frontal cortex suppression. Some died, usually from malnutrition. Soon after, strange mushroom-like growths would sprout from their lifeless bodies. No explanation was given – locals believed it was a punishment from god.
In a short matter of time, it became impossible to ignore, but the games were approaching. The only choice for local officials was to suppress the media. News that could potentially impact the financial interests of those running the World Cup were to be avoided at all costs.
The Beginning of the end
Early victims of this mysterious disease were harmless enough- almost catatonic. But, like all diseases, Ophiocordyceps zombicus was destined to evolve.
Over many months of infectious cycles, the fungi learned how to survive longer and spread more effectively. In doing so, the fungal spores tightened their grasp on the complex neural pathways of the human beings they infected until they were completely enslaved by the microorganism.
The World Cup granted an incredibly fortuitous Darwinian advantage to zombicus – it was able to synchronize the time of infection across a huge diversity of 1st world citizens.
After a prolonged period of latency, the “outbreak” struck out of no where. Every major city – Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Sydney, etc., was hit over the course of 3-4 days.
In some ways, it resembled your typical “Hollywood” Zombie scenario, with people transforming into aggressive, predatory animals within seconds of being bitten by the infected.
In other ways, it was unlike anything we could have imagined. Seemingly healthy people would suddenly be altered – a sneeze, or a even a kiss was enough to activate it.
Shrill screams echoed through the streets… families were torn asunder as dead bodies lay everywhere.
It was not an ‘us against them’ type of scenario. It was the sum of all fears…
How it works
Ophiocordyceps zombicus spores, similar to their insect-targeting counterparts, enter and propagate themselves in the respiratory system. Once inside the organism, they germinate and spread to several major organs, but always manifest themselves in the brain and salivary glands.
The spores may lie dormant for months; one expert suggests the average dormancy is about 35 weeks – then the symptoms begin.
To control the host organism, the germinated spores express potent amphetamine analogs. These small molecules hyper-stimulate the sympathetic nervous system (flight or flight response), leaving the host disoriented, paranoid, and extremely aggressive.
It was recently discovered that some of these small molecules resemble synthetic cathinone (bath salts), a fact which may explain accounts of hallucinations and self-mutilation.
One unique characteristic of this zombicus is the observation that the host seems to have a desire to cannibalize members of its own species. Although the exact mechanism that arouses this behavior is unknown, one plausible theory has been developed.
It is well accepted that the ability to exchange genetic information is a great advantage to many organisms. Fungi have also the ability to exchange genetic information, but must be in close proximity.
It is believed that Ophiocordyceps zombicus programs the host to attack and expose the germinated fungus within another host, which would be most abundant in the brain and salivary glands. When one infected host feeds on another, the fungi are able to interact, exchange genetic information, and sporulate. Unfortunately for us, there seems to be no bias for either infected or uninfected individuals –to an infected host, anyone is a possible source…
Your survival
In every Hollywood zombie scenario, masculine science figures were able to make the cure within a few days of reaching a deserted research center. As it turns out, every major infectious disease laboratory in the world is located in populated urban areas. These are off limits.
We always thought that a zombie disease would be a virus, something like rabies. As it turns out, even the fastest viruses cannot control the host until several hours after exposure, if not days. Here, the zombicus fungus had a major advantage – speed.
The next difficulty is that fungal infections are extremely difficult to treat because, like humans, fungi are also Eukaryotes. This means they have similar cellular structures and features. Furthermore, anti-fungal research has never been a popular topic – research has been limited to common fungi such as those that cause yeast infections, ringworm, or toenail fungus.
The most ironic twist of all was that we quickly realized that the burgeoning science PhD population was perhaps the most ill-equipped type of people to survive any catastrophic events.
All of this compounded to make the search for the cure nearly impossible.
The few remaining scientists and survivalists soon discovered the fundamental physiological limitations of the fungus – constant neurological stimulation of its victims created huge energy debts that had to fulfilled by eating. The victims were also still susceptible to normal human afflictions – older or less fit victims often suffered coronary angina or stroke within the first few hours of activation.
This made isolation the best option.
The last remaining remnants of civilization spread to rural areas. A few made it to Acadia National Park in Maine, the location of perhaps the most isolated research lab in the world – The Jackson Laboratory.
Primarily devoted to breeding mice, the Jackson Lab harbors many types of anti-fungals. Some of these were found to be marginally effective in preventing activation of the spores, but did nothing to rid a human of the infection.
News got out about these agents. Vivarium stores were raided and some people chronically self-treated with these anti-fungals. As soon as the local supply ran out, people were again left vulnerable to zombicus.
The Future
We have been left on our own. All major industrial supplies that could be used to scale up production of the anti-fungal have been depleted.
In the meantime, to ensure that you do not propagate a sporulation event, no exchange of body fluids should be risked. This includes kissing, sex, or blood exchange of any sort.
It’s a grim future, but we brought it upon ourselves.
About the author Kenric Hoegler
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?198106-Because-of-World-Cup-2014-we-are-all-going-to-die-it-s-inside-of-us-waiting&goto=newpost).