Natural-born manipulators

11/03/23 • 8 min

1 Listener

For decades, science fiction has captured our imaginations with terrifying plots of mind control and human subjugation. But who would have thought that the fungi that turned people into zombies in a popular game-turned-TV-series could be somewhat realistic? Parasitism and the manipulation of hosts are mechanisms not invented by science fiction writers but rather by... nature itself. There are numerous examples of one organism taking over the body and will of another. In this episode of the OYLA podcast, we will cover nature’s most terrifying manipulators.

Story told by Garrett Tucker. You can discover even more about science and the world around us in our magazine, so head over to oyla.us to check it out!

Story told by Garrett Tucker. You can discover even more about science and the world around us in our magazine, so head over to oyla.us to check it out!

Previous Episode

Why is it dark at night?

"Why is it dark at night?" asked Lily and Emma, sitting by the campfire under the starry sky. This same question has been pondered by scientists around the world for centuries. Turns out this simple question is not that simple!

You can discover even more about science and the world around us in our magazine, so head over to oyla.us to check it out!

Next Episode

Who Taught Doctors to Wash Their Hands? The History of Asepsis and Antisepsis

“First, wash your hands, and then you may eat.” Sometimes this rule can be really annoying, but we have it for a reason. We wash our hands to minimize contact with pathogenic microorganisms. But imagine how people lived when they had no clue that microbes existed! And that was only a century and a half ago.

Story told by Garrett Tucker.

You can discover even more about science and the world around us in our magazine, so head over to oyla.us to check it out!