I wanted to write about this, but I had a hard enough time not breaking down into tears. Corruption from mining, poisonous mercury spreading cancer, how that gold watch you bought your mom is supporting this, etc. It is a pretty amazing story so I highly suggest you take a listen to this four-part series.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Wanna dance with a Brazilian?
On a personal note, I have to note that this blog is inspired by an ongoing debate between my 14-year old brother and I about which animal is most likely to take over the world. This will most likely be an ongoing series of posts, which I have in fact already hinted about in my first blog and on Facebook, but I will not admit outright my theory until I know a little more about my species of choice. Robbie's (my brother) choice, however, would be the spider. After doing some searching I found what seems to be the most dangerous spider: the Brazilian Wandering Spider. Theses little guys are a genus broken up into eight assorted species all located in South and Central America, mostly in Brazil, hence the name. Their natural defense mechanism is to "stand up" in an erect position by lifting its two side legs and then starts swaying from side-to-side. This is probably the most deadly dance known to man, because this little arachnoid has the world's most poisonous venom according to the Guinness Book of World Records 2007. Now this is where it just gets mind boggling/bottling....
The venom, a down-right nasty neurotoxin, begins to destroy the nervous system by first inhibiting glutamate release as well as calcium and glutamate reuptake. Eventual asphyxiation kicks in after breathing and muscle control completely shut down. The venom slowly starts excitatory neuronal functioning which increases levels of serotonin causing excruciating pain while your nervous system dwindles. Now the kicker: a propeptide known as Tx2-6 kicks in inducing priapism... so not only are you dying, receiving the worst pain you could have possibly experienced in your entire life, but you also having a raging erection or clitoris stimulation the entire time. Well, wouldn't that be an ironic way to die if you had ED.
If you're worried, you really shouldn't be. Nat Geo puts this stuff on TV to get ratings and I wrote about it because I love creeping my little sister out. These little guys can be found all around the world, but only because they hide in bananas and usually get shipped over seas. They don't typically live long after that. They primarily live on the floors of the rain forest and are actually quite nocturnal. Most bites come from humans bothering them while they're sleeping in boots, logs, or clothes hanging outside (in Central and South America). Even in those situations, only 2.3 percent of cases require anti-venom, and those are mainly relating to bites of small children. On top of this, these spiders can distribute "dry" bites that are simply defense mechanisms to get you out of their space, and they seem to only happen one-third of the time. So, as I said, I wouldn't be too worried, because the chances of you being in Brazil, in the rain forest, during the night, getting bit, having venom injected, and not being able to get an anti-venom seems, well, a little like flipping tails with a double-headed quarter. Until next time my friends...
The venom, a down-right nasty neurotoxin, begins to destroy the nervous system by first inhibiting glutamate release as well as calcium and glutamate reuptake. Eventual asphyxiation kicks in after breathing and muscle control completely shut down. The venom slowly starts excitatory neuronal functioning which increases levels of serotonin causing excruciating pain while your nervous system dwindles. Now the kicker: a propeptide known as Tx2-6 kicks in inducing priapism... so not only are you dying, receiving the worst pain you could have possibly experienced in your entire life, but you also having a raging erection or clitoris stimulation the entire time. Well, wouldn't that be an ironic way to die if you had ED.
If you're worried, you really shouldn't be. Nat Geo puts this stuff on TV to get ratings and I wrote about it because I love creeping my little sister out. These little guys can be found all around the world, but only because they hide in bananas and usually get shipped over seas. They don't typically live long after that. They primarily live on the floors of the rain forest and are actually quite nocturnal. Most bites come from humans bothering them while they're sleeping in boots, logs, or clothes hanging outside (in Central and South America). Even in those situations, only 2.3 percent of cases require anti-venom, and those are mainly relating to bites of small children. On top of this, these spiders can distribute "dry" bites that are simply defense mechanisms to get you out of their space, and they seem to only happen one-third of the time. So, as I said, I wouldn't be too worried, because the chances of you being in Brazil, in the rain forest, during the night, getting bit, having venom injected, and not being able to get an anti-venom seems, well, a little like flipping tails with a double-headed quarter. Until next time my friends...
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