tagged w/ Slugs
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An Australian man has been left in a critical condition after eating a slug for a dare.
Slimy slugs can easily carry diseases
The 21-year-old from Sydney contracted a disease called rat lungworm which is a rare form of meningitis, according to Australian national broadcaster ABC.
The incident has led to health officials warning of the dangers of eating raw gastropods, or slugs and snails, which carry the parasitic worm.
The disease causes the brain and spinal cord to swell and can be fatal.
However, Dr Jeremy McAnulty from New South Wales Health said most people recover from the illness because the body's immune system can get rid of it.
It cannot be transferred from person to person.
The larvae of the parasite is only found in rodents' faeces, which many snails and slugs eat and then become infected.
Dr McAnulty advised anyone planning to eat ..full story link http://www.waneenterprises.com/forums/4/763/1An Australian man has been left in a critical condition after eating a slug for a... more
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"A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.
The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis — the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy.
"They can make their energy-containing molecules without having to eat anything," said Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Pierce has been studying the unique creatures, officially called Elysia chlorotica, for about 20 years. He presented his most recent findings Jan. 7 at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle. The finding was first reported by Science News.
"This is the first time that multicellar animals have been able to produce chlorophyll," Pierce told LiveScience."
http://www.livescience.com/animals/green-slug-animal-plant-100112.html"A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first... more
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A green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first critter discovered to produce the plant pigment chlorophyll.
The sneaky slugs seem to have stolen the genes that enable this skill from algae that they've eaten. With their contraband genes, the slugs can carry out photosynthesis - the process plants use to convert sunlight into energy.
"They can make their energy-containing molecules without having to eat anything," said Sidney Pierce, a biologist at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Pierce has been studying the unique creatures, officially called Elysia chlorotica, for about 20 years. He presented his most recent findings Jan. 7 at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Seattle. The finding was first reported by Science News.
"This is the first time that multicellar animals have been able to produce chlorophyll," Pierce told LiveScience.
The sea slugs live in salt marshes in New England and Canada. In addition to burglarizing the genes needed to make the green pigment chlorophyll, the slugs also steal tiny cell parts called chloroplasts, which they use to conduct photosynthesis. The chloroplasts use the chlorophyl to convert sunlight into energy, just as plants do, eliminating the need to eat food to gain energy.
"We collect them and we keep them in aquaria for months," Pierce said. "As long as we shine a light on them for 12 hours a day, they can survive [without food]."
The researchers used a radioactive tracer to be sure that the slugs are actually producing the chlorophyll themselves, as opposed to just stealing the ready-made pigment from algae. In fact, the slugs incorporate the genetic material so well, they pass it on to further generations of slugs.
The babies of thieving slugs retain the ability to produce their own chlorophyll, though they can't carry out photosynthesis until they've eaten enough algae to steal the necessary chloroplasts, which they can't yet produce on their own.
The slugs accomplishment is quite a feat, and scientists aren't yet sure how the animals actually appropriate the genes they need.
"It certainly is possible that DNA from one species can get into another species, as these slugs have clearly shown," Pierce said. "But the mechanisms are still unknown."
http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Aplysia-punctata-BA.jpgA green sea slug appears to be part animal, part plant. It's the first critter... more
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Shaped like a leaf itself, the slug Elysia chlorotica already has a reputation for kidnapping the photosynthesizing organelles and some genes from algae. Now it turns out that the slug has acquired enough stolen goods to make an entire plant chemical-making pathway work inside an animal body, says Sidney K. Pierce of the University of South Florida
Source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/01/green-sea-slug/Shaped like a leaf itself, the slug Elysia chlorotica already has a reputation for... more
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The Daily Mail must win headline of the year and must have been salivating to find this story. They report that a gay guy tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat.
Gary Stewart from Manchester, had been fighting with his neighbours Marie Walton and Beverley Sales for months. But apparently he tried to err.... curry favour, with them, by inviting them over for a curry.
Sounds like a great plot line for Neighbours!The Daily Mail must win headline of the year and must have been salivating to find... more
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Don't lie. You want to know what it looks like. Things get kinky about halfway through the video. It's pretty incredible actually.Don't lie. You want to know what it looks like. Things get kinky about halfway... more
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Tuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on Current TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats.
In today's show :
Accounts.
Any chefs watching or listening ?
The heavens have opened.
Snakes.
Ed's diner - it's gone ! LOL.
Who will go, and who will stay ?
Oysters.
Throwing food away.
A holiday gone wrong.
A new bit of graphics (on the video).
Where's that wind coming from ?
Dave in Dallas.
Other places for afternoon tea.
Homeless.
Not feeling safe.
A strong email from Japan.
A cruise ship.
Not long now 'till I visit my sister.
My first Wednesday off.
Just after the bend.
Slugs & snails.
Marsha looks forward to tea.
Jasons web site - www.jason-allen.co.uk
Bingay and karaoke.No.That won't work ! LOL
Rain everywhere.
Email :
chris@unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk
WWW.UNITEDKINGDOMTALK.CO.UKTuesday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on... more
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What lives in Wales, has no eyes, and eats worms? Thankfully its not Tom Jones driven insane after some horrific ocular accident, but a new type of white slug.What lives in Wales, has no eyes, and eats worms? Thankfully its not Tom Jones... more
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A CARNIVOROUS slug that sucks worms in “like spaghetti” and which has never been seen before in Western Europe, has been discovered in Welsh gardens, biologists revealed yesterday.A CARNIVOROUS slug that sucks worms in “like spaghetti” and which has... more
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Photographer David Doubilet takes fashion photography underwater and produces brilliant photographs of toxic nudibranchs—soft, seagoing slugs—that produce a colorful defense. These are models that even Tyra Banks doesn't know about.Photographer David Doubilet takes fashion photography underwater and produces... more
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After reading this article, I am determined to go on a slug fest and search out the elusive "bald eagle" like banana slug. Researcher David George Gordon loves slugs, and wishes you would too. Did you know slugs are hermaphrodites? Slugs also make great pets! That is, if of course if you have a slugarium.
Of course little is known about slugs, so discoveries are being made all the time. Like slugs may help cure cancer!
Mmmm. Slugs.
After reading this article, I am determined to go on a slug fest and search out the... more
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