Useless but essential pop culture tidbits and trivia from the worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror that your science teacher will not really care about.
Zombies have existed in legend and lore for centuries and they become a pop-culture phenomena after the success of George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead back in 1968. But did you know that there is evidence of zombification actually happening in nature? Scientists have discovered a fungus that takes control of ants and bids them to do its will before ultimately killing them.
This fungus, which has been around for millions and millions of years attaches itself to carpenter ants as they walk along the bottom of the forest. The parasitic plant then begins to grow inside the ants that it infects and controls their behavior to attach themselves to leaves on the trees higher up where it cannot reach but where the humidity is just right for it to grow. These ants use their mandibles to latch onto the leaves with a death-grip before they perish. Once the ant dies, the fungus will sprout up through its head and release spores back to the ground that then start the cycle all over again.
If you have ever read Richard Matheson’s seminal I Am Legend, you will know that he puts forth a scientific hypothesis to explain vampirism/zombieism and this recent discovery just might add a little more weight to those assertions. No word yet on whether Romero’s next zombie film will involve ants, but it seems he may have some good source material in the pages of scientific journals.
Source: guardian.co.uk
