By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
The unusual tactic of keeping the host alive while releasing spores is called active host transmission (AHT). It is an effective way of getting access to other healthy individuals. Scientists think the fungi could be producing substances that “dope” their hosts (sometimes colloquially referred to as “zombies”), meaning they can stay fresh enough to live for days after infection — only collapsing once there is nothing left in their abdomens but the fungus.
“We suspect therefore that these fungi may produce amphetamine-like substances which keep a fly’s energy levels high up until the end,” ( The Lambert fungus perhaps)
[Post edited 15 Dec 2020 22:23]
"They break our legs and tell us to be grateful when they offer us crutches."
I saw a documentary once in which an theoretical alien invasion was undertaken by modifying spores that then took over humans, made them climb high and then exploded the human so the spores infected loads more people.