Science Fiction Freakiness - Hold the Fiction

OK, every once in a while I write a post basically telling you something really cool I've seen on another blog. Well, this is another one. Why?

Well, it's cool. A blog I've been enjoying called "Observations of a Nerd" - which is kind of like Rocket Science in principle except all about biology and socialogy and a few other types of science that can make those of us in the physical sciences pretty uneasy (unless you're as opinionated as I am) - has a weekly feature on "This Week's Sci-Fi Worthy Parasite." Now, some of you know I write science fiction. She ain't lying when she says these are science fiction-worthy and I'm starting to take notes. Some, like this week's, aren't immediately threatening but the notion, where it could go from there, is definitely disturbing. It's a fungus that does some funky funky stuff to mustard plants. Seriously, you should check it out.

Last week was horrifying, a loa loa worm. Believe me, you don't want to know. It'll scare the pants right off you and then some. Don't go! Too late. I bet you just navigated back from her page unable to control yourself, and lost a few years off your life in the process.

Others she's done include
Lice (with their mini-chromosomes)
Cookie Cutter Shark (just freaky)
Hairworm (insect mind control)
Screw Worm (aka "Man-eater")
Parasitic Wasps
Candiru (murderous little catfish)
Mountain Acon Blue Butterfly (evil evil butterfly)
Cymothoa exigua (snapper nightmare)
Parasitic barnacles (making females of crabs, whether they wanted to or not)
Emerald Cockroach Wasp (pretty but *shudder*)
Dricrocoelium dendriticum (more mind control)

And now I have a handy dandy list to learn more about parasites for science fiction. And so do you.

She's even got a post on why parasites are evolution's superstars. *Shudder* Maybe, but I prefer my parasites at a distance, or, scaring the bejeebus out of my characters trapped on an alien planet populated by nasties nearly as scary as they ones we have on THIS planet.

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