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Call for questions: ZOMBIES (sort of) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-10-08 18:39:19
Imported:
2026-06

Content

Mind controlling fungus! Wasps that use mind-control! I’m sitting down with a wonderfully charming author who spent years researching REAL LIFE NATURE ZOMBIES of all kinds.

Leave your questions below, folks!

Comments

Meghan McLean

What’s the likelihood of this fungus mutating and gaining the ability to infect humans? A la the last of us

Shealyn Wippert

How did and why did the wasps develop this? What is the evolution?

madelyn m

The zombie stories from India? Real or fake?

Sarah R-L

Have you ever dressed as a Zomb-bee for Halloween? Or an Apocephalus borealis? 😉

Beau Jarvis

why do zombies stick their arms out?

Lily

Gotta ask how likely it is that the human race eventually experiences some sort of similar fungal infection?

Matt Hirschl

What real life creature most resembles or appears like the monster from Frankenstein?

Ron

How did this capability evolve over time? Natural Selection for certain traits?

Lily

Do infected ants end up spreading it to their colonies?

Rebecca Morrison

FTQA: The Last of Us…what would have to happen to make this a real possibility?

Guido

Are there parasites that can control or influence the mind of animals bigger than insects, like birds, mammals or reptiles?

Anna Thompson

Could a zombie be thwarted by a jean jacket? Can human teeth cut through a biker jacket?

Andrea

Would it be possible for a mind controlling fungus to infect humans? (Please tell me The Last of Us isn’t possible 😭)

Meg Kelly

Are the zombies conscious of what is going on to them / are “they” still mentally alive inside ???

Leila Laco

Do toxoplasmosis infections spread from cats to owners really change people's actions and personalities or is it flim flam?

curly fry

How does it work and how does it spread?

Marvin McCreary

Yes. Toxoplasma is associated with risk behaviors in mice and maybe to contribute to risky behaviors in humans that help spread it (STD).

Keely Chavez

Aren't we kind of zombies already controlled to some extent by our gut biome?

curly fry

What is the first recorded event of this happening?

Trevor Hagedorn

Are there any species that use chemicals and/or ferimones to control another species?

curly fry

Do zombies know they are infected?

Sean

For fungi/parasites that control the bug/animal in it's last moments to climb a branch or walk towards a predator, what is the intermediary between the parasites demands and the host? How can it 'talk' to the host's nervous/muscular system? Does either one really know what they're doing?

Isabelle Leclerc

First time question: how can we use knowledge of how fungi and wasps control minds towards more useful applications, such as convincing corporate leadership to make better decisions and quit making us do online courses?!?!? And stop restructuring every 8 to 10 years??

Robert G Audet

Hmmm, with the global temperature increase there are signs fungi might be adapting to live at our slowly dropping body temp, now at 97.5F (Stanford study) down from 98.6F (Carl Reinhold in 1851). Are we at risk for pathogenic, brain killing fungi like Cordyceps as time goes on? Sheesh!

Guido

What about bigger animals?

Marvin McCreary

What is the guest’s thoughts on eating cordyceps? It caused Zombies in the “Last of Us” while also for sale in the dried mushroom section of my local Asian market.

King Donna

What's the prettiest zombug? I love their segmented bodies ❣️

BigHighFive

Depending on this answer, I’m gonna be buying stock in Levi’s.

Zinc

how likely is ‘the last of us’? also to alie: if we can i would also love an episode on the lore of zombies like we had for vampires.

Larissa

Did the zombie ability in fungi evolve once or multiple times? And could it evolve again to infect other species?

Euan Munro

I'm here for whatever the expert thinks of the mushroom make-out scene in the Last of Us TV show.

Fybreglass

Hi, I’m a first time question asker! Have you ever seen the film - the girl with all the gifts / read the book?

BigHighFive

WHEN humans become zombies, does the guest think they are going to be slow moving like in The Dawn of the Dead or will they have dramatically increased physical abilities where they are faster and able to climb anything like in World War Z? Which Zombie movie is their favorite?

Fybreglass

Why is it that that cordyceps only infects insects and arthropods? What makes them so special in comparison to some much smaller mammals/birds?

Anna Eeeee

I was recently in the amazon and learned that when bullet ants get infected by cordyceps the mind control makes them go back to their colony before dying so that the fungus can spread to other ants. I was also told that some climb as high as they can before dying so that it can spread as far as possible. why are there these differences in strategies and are some better than others?

Yuri

There's a parasite that has its life cycle in both cats and mice so it makes mice love cats so they get caught and eaten. I vaguely remember hearing something about some parasite maybe also making humans love cats more? Is that why we are zombies for cats? 😻

Abby Grieb

This has always been so crazy to me I’m so excited to learn more. My only question: how????? How does the fungus do it??? It’s so weird.

Anna Eeeee

how come Tardigrades, unlike any other animal to my knowledge, are able to get completely dried out, live and vacuum, and other crazy stuff, then can just practically rise from the dead once re-hydrated.

Dave Cannon

If a fungus can do it, does that mean pharmaceuticals could do it? Like real mind control drugs?

Deacon Raid

Bugs Need Heroes podcast did an episode about ophiocordyceps so this will be a fun supplement!

Mitch

What is this author's best advice for how to survive a zombie apocalypse if one ever occurred? I'm curious about the scene in "The Last of Us" where they're talking about how all of the infected are connected to one another, if one infected feels or hears something, the entire infected population is aware - do fungi actually have this ability? And, like many other listeners, how possible is a parasitic infection to spread amongst the human population? If not possible, what traits would these parasites or fungi need to evolve in order to accomplish such a feat?

Fybreglass

Have you ever seen any snails infected by a green-banded broodsac in the wild? Was that a creepy experience? 😬

Marianne Thomas

Do you ever have an existential crisis about the fact that we're still just starting to learn about the ways in which our microbiome affect our mood & behaviours? Then there's the effects of undiagnosed roundworms on childhood development... Maybe we're already zombies....

Kristy Lowrey

Why are we non-zombies so fascinated with actual zombies?

wendy Forman

Speaking of microbiomes, I would really like to know much more about them.

OtterKhaos (KrisP)

According to the World Wide Web, there’s a powder that can be inhaled (generally unwillingly) which makes the inhaler easily manipulated… is this true? How about the veracity of “Haitian Zombies” with tetrodotoxins from puffer fish?

ReigningEmily

In your expert opinion, which fictional zombie apocalypse is the most plausible?

Mikkel Max Jorn

Massospora and cicadas going bananas… what’s up with that?

Feye

Could some sort of mind-controlling fungus infect humans? Or other mammals?

Brittany Winchester

What’s up with this flower in Colombia that turns us into Zombies?

Jennifer Delsman

What's with mind control seemingly prolifically being described as evil? Can't it be survival or even positive based?

Cyntia B

Have we understood the mechanism by which an enkysted Toxoplasma gondii seems to influence risk-taking and cat-loving behaviors in humans?

Anna

Where did the name ‘zombie’ come from? Why do we always make them green? - from my 11yr old

Kaitlin Comet

What is the origin of zombies? How did this evolve to what we perceive zombies as today?

Cyntia B

How has voodoo been related to mind control and zombies, and are there real-life examples of working voodoo practices?

Betsy Hoffmeister

Came here to ask whether that research has stood the test of time or if it's been refuted. I love the idea of crazy cat ladies being driven to crazy-cat-ladyhood by a parasite infection.

Kristin Michelle

nervous to get the answer to this one but still curious all the same hahaha

Amanda Longo

“The Last of Us” tv show/games - how ‘real’ is it?

Will Clark

How often are occurrences of people being determined to be dead in error, only to revive?

Caitlin Kalinowski

Would an increase in global temperature make cordyceps fungus able to adapt to taking over mammals, like humans?

Maddie Rodriguez

Wasps are metal and I love their wild lives. My question is: lots of solitary wasps use their venom to paralyze prey, but what is up with the venom in wasps that can make the host for their young CARE for the little wasp babies eating them from the inside out?!

emily burns

is the cordyceps fungus really as bad at The Last of Us made it seem?

emily burns

would someone who was legally pronounced dead but who got resuscitated and brought back to life be considered a zombie?

Madeline DLC

Is it possible cure “zombification”? Does jewel wasp venom ware off if you take the wasp away? Is there a cure for cordyceps fungus in ants?

Potato Puffer

What about the caterpillar that gets ants to be it’s zombie bodyguards by having them consume it’s secretions of dopamine that makes them less likely to move away from the caterpillar and more likely to be aggressive.

Kai Kishimoto

How species-specific are “mind-controlling” fungi? Can it only grow in one species? In a group of related species?

Potato Puffer

Oh and please talk about hairworms driving crickets to suicide in water.

Madeline DLC

Any other methods of mind controlling a bug besides chemicals and brain surgeries?

Audrey Ayers

First occurrence of zombies?

Patrick Iverson

The Last of Us… with a warming world, is that feasible?

Kristen Rosenblum

What different methods are used to take over the nervous system? I’m thinking about Rabies, but would Mad Cow disease count since it’s a prion? Do they mimic the nervous system signals? Take over the brains control centers?

Olivia Eliasson

When is the first record of the zombie from?

Mara Schoner

One of the first popular representations of Zombies was in the 1932 horror movie "The White Zombie" which takes place in Haiti. How does the archetype of the zombie relate to American Colonialism? (Leading question I know...my son took a class on Zombies at UC Santa Cruz). (I found it fascinating.)

Greg Walloch

Does toxoplasmosis turn a person into a crazy cat lady like it does with rats?

michan biesbroek

first time question asker here: Was the biblical Jesus a zombie?

Dave Brewer

How did Ophiocordyceps unilateralis evolve such an unusual life cycle? Are there other species that are similar? And do zombie babies call their mothers mombie?

Earl of Greymalkin

1) All the toxoplasma questions! I just really love cats!!11!!!1!!! My cat smells so good and non-cat people might think that sounds weird, but trust me and go sniff a kitty (after you get permission from them). Might they smell so nice because of Toxo in the brain?? How did people estimate that a third of the world population is infected with Toxo? What are the error bars on that estimate? 2) How did evolutionary pressures even figure out zombieism anyway? What might have been intermediate steps? 3) Are any particular type of organism (like viruses versus fungi) more likely to figure out how to create zombies to their benefit? 4) How did rabies become what it is? WHY SO SCARY AND CREEPY? Why so effective at infecting so many different species? 5) Are there situations where a plant can be said to be made a zombie? 6) How does how pathogens alter brain function compare to dementia and other breakdowns of cognitive ability? 7) At what point are natural zombie hosts of these pathogens considered dead? Are they still alive or just corpse puppets? 8) How hard is it to detect a zombiefied individual? Do some zombiefying pathogens rely on maintaining normal behavioral patterns for dissemination through social contacts etc. or do they act more like brain sledgehammers and destroy normal patterns completely?

Verena Runstadler

Are there any instances where a fungus “controls” another fungus?

Mark McPhillips

How much do we know about the mechanics of mind-control in nature and what is it teaching us about how the mind/consciousness works?

Heather Circle

Any zombie like species in the ocean?

Jani Rounds

How does the mind get controlled, what are the mechanisms of control?

Emily Staw-fur

Has this helped explain any of the things that have always been a mystery about brains?

BeckytheSassySeagrassScientist

How on earth did zombi-fication evolve?? Especially similar behavior across different species and even kingdoms! ...did it evolve OFF of earth???

Emily Staw-fur

Is it possible to target only certain parts of our brain for mind control? Like could we use something like this to treat depression or other mental illness?

Emily Staw-fur

Why do zombies eat brains? Why not regular food 😂

Robin Stumbo

how limited is the dispersal of zombifying pathogens? also, do we have any idea about when/where they evolved from fossils or genome analysis?

Rozelyn Hesby

Q from my 5 yo Colin: Are there any animals that eat brains like real-life zombies?

Daniel Gill

Do we know the mechanics of how the fungus directs the movement of its host? Can it actually turn/steer its host around obstacles?

BigHighFive

I can’t unthink that scene now!

Elie Zwiebel

What does a vegan zombie eat? Graaaaaains.

Alie Ward

I haven't heard! What are the zombie stories?!

Melissa Kane

Has any species developed a successful biodefense, aside from avoidance, against zombism?

Katie Murray

I was thinking along these same lines: if the mechanism by which these critters are controlling other critters could be isolated and understood, would there be potential uses for good/healing/disease reversal?

Alie Ward

We have an episode on Microbiology (GUT BIOME) from 2018 if you haven't heard it yet!

Voxothoth

How does scopolamine, aka devil's breath, work in subduing the victim's willpower? Are there any other things in nature that can otherwise zombify a human?

You Can Be The Judge

I think the original lore about zombies came from slaves in the west indies describing what seems to happen when humans are overworked to the point of exhaustion, constantly. They observed people cruelly treated to the point where it seemed they had lost their soul, like they were already dead even though they were still moving and it was creepy and scary because you COULD be zombified because you were also a slave and your master could choose to treat YOU that way any time they liked and you too would be left a soulless walking husk of a person. What is the effect of overwork and exhaustion in nature in relation to zombification? Do stressed out animals become more susceptible to the zombification process (either fungal or other) ?

Some Random Frog

Where did the whole eating brains thing come from?

Debi Potts

Asking smart people stupid questions: what's the difference between mold and fungus? AND does black mold have any mind altering qualities? Thank you.

Griffin Russell

Obligatory, hippie psychedelic lover question about fungus: does any research of this mind controlling having an effect on humans? Such as: could humans potential be mind controlled through fungus?(im thinkin MK ultra stuff immediately lol) could humans experience strange neurological effects from consuming this fungus?(like just getting high)

Christine Wenzel

Is there any way to study prehistoric nature "zombies"? Like are there fossils of the fungus or would they have to look at genetic history?

Jean Pompeo

Could it be possible to bioengineer a mind controlling fungus to control insects in a way that we want? Could we essentially remote control insects via the use of a fungus?

Sriya Karra

Have you identified any underlying biological or ecological explanations for the behavior of these organisms?

Hailey

What is the likelihood of cordyceps adapting to take over humans (like in The Last of Us)? Is it all flim-flam? Also, I just found out about Eryniopsis lampyridarum from a USFWS Instagram post and I am truly horrified... How do the fungi "know" what to do to spread to new hosts? How do they know what behaviors they are causing in their hosts? Thank you and I'm so excited to listen to this episode!

Nita Chen

Greetings, Do any of the zombie states in nature get reversed? Or are they all perma-lobotomized?

Average_pi

Could I use this mind control fungus to control the local bug populations to oboe me? ( asking for a friend)

Eliana Weiss

Did you hear about the weasels/ferrets that were buried somewhere by the people who killed them as pests, but they weren't buried deep enough, so they started to emerge out of the ground as the gases in thier bodies expanded? What was that all about? Thoughts?

Elliphant

first time question asker! (I'm excited!) There's kinds of parasites that literally override an animal's base instincts (like toxoplasmosis and rats) and make them more likely to get eaten. The cat gets a meal of a tasty rat, but what does the parasite get out of the equation, and why would something like that evolve?

PopsicleEmperor

(first time quesrion!)I genuinely dont believe a tradtional zombie apocalypse type scenario is possible. What are your thoughts on this?

Angel Estrada

(First-time asker) “What Moves the Dead” by T. Kingfisher involves “natural” zombies. Have you read it? If so, would a scenario involving a lake full of fungi be possible, infecting those that drink from it?

Isabelle Newman

I think people have asked similar versions of this question but is it a real concern to be worried about species like these taking over human kind at some point?

Isabelle Newman

Has this phenomena ever been employed as a bio weapon ??

Tristin Berg

I know this is about wasps, BUT I gotta know: When did zombies go from slow (both mentally and physically), to quick as fuck terrifying murder machines?

Katie Stalder

What’s the likelihood that radiation, like from a nuclear meltdown, will cause a real zombie effect? My mom told me she heard about that from a bible study group.

Shaun Palmer

First time question asker here uncle dad, (undead aside - was Jesus technically a zombie?) How feasible is pathogen-induced zombiism, for example as a bioweapon? (Thinking about the 2010 film The Crazies)

Squirrelmo

Who else first learned about zombies from 'The Serpent and the Rainbow' or 'Return of the Living Dead'?

joesyourmom

Have cordyceps ever infiltrated a mammal effectively? Why is it always insects that are infected? If they often effect a species that is occupying too large of an ecological niche, it seems like its only a matter of time!! 💀

StrawbrryMom 🍓

Didn’t “bath salts” create real zombies? In Florida. People took bath salts and tried to eat other people’s faces and/or ripped themselves open. Whatever happened with that?

Kait Dani

I’m so curious what this ologist says about the most realistic portrayal of a zombie apocalypse in media- online nerds say it’s The Last of Us. Are mushrooms closest to the real thing?

Alyssa Ranker

Can you talk about Phorid flies turning honey bees into Zombees? What exactly are the making the bees do?

Gemma

is there anything crazier than this or is this just it?

Sarah Nyland

This is such a cool question; I bet you mushrooms do know things if they’re connected to their mycelium! Like a laptop connected to the internet. Idk about those human-mushroom zombies though, they didn’t look connected to anything.

Sarah Nyland

Honestly kind of morbidly beautiful!!

Amy Dix

What is the likelihood that we could have a global pandemic where the symptoms could cause people to behave similar to those in zombie movies?

noahmplant

what if a person figured out the mechanism the fungi uses to mind control insects and used it on humans. what then

Britt Carp

What is the most likely method that something resembling a zombie apocalypse could occur? Virus? Fungus? Bath salts? Some other weird fourth thing?

Britt Carp

How much do you love the song “Zombie” by the cranberries? Because it is my number one go-to karaoke song.

Kristen Dixon Keilty

I've observed humans with current and past brain infections who can be irrational and violent. Could zombiesm have been an early "explanation" of such a human condition?

DelilahD

First time question asker! Do you have a different perspective on life? Or like, has anything that you’ve witnessed or studied that impacted you deeply? On a lighter note, how do I stop being so afraid of zombies!

Leslie Feldman

This episode airs today so this isn’t a question so much as a post-episode request: A T-shirt or sticker that says “it gets weirder” with a Cowboy wasp riding a cockroach. Thank you.