Comments on: Not exactly the Zombie Apocalypse Hollywood had been going on about . . . https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/12/19/not-exactly-the-zombie-apocalypse-hollywood-had-been-going-on-about/ Mon, 06 Apr 2026 12:03:37 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Vitruvius https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/12/19/not-exactly-the-zombie-apocalypse-hollywood-had-been-going-on-about/#comment-46398 Vitruvius Fri, 25 Dec 2020 11:06:19 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=86517#comment-46398 Don't like what modern tech and hate could do to it, given the chance. Don’t like what modern tech and hate could do to it, given the chance.

]]> By: ER https://www.habitablezone.com/2020/12/19/not-exactly-the-zombie-apocalypse-hollywood-had-been-going-on-about/#comment-46372 ER Sun, 20 Dec 2020 00:22:07 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=86517#comment-46372 I've now heard of several types of of parasitic fungi which infect insects and then modify their host's behavior in order to spread spores to other hosts. This is real alien lifeform sort of behavior, really creepy stuff. This reminds me of the Amazonian ground-dwelling ant, which when infected by a fungus, has its nervous system re-programmed to climb high into the canopy, lock its jaws onto a leaf or twicg, and the dies. The dead ant then bursts, scattering spores all over the ground to infect other ants. Fungi have also been studied as commensal lifeforms to forest trees, helping spread genetic material, nutrients and chemical messages both within and across species. We have a good concept of individual organisms as complex systems, but they may be much more than that. Communities of organisms seem to exhibit higher order levels of complexity as well. When we destroy an ecosystem, or alter one for our own use, we are creating devastation beyond our imagining; rain forests, coral reefs, perhaps the entire biosphere itself are self-regulating systems, perhaps even capable of evolving their own sentience. I’ve now heard of several types of of parasitic fungi which infect insects and then modify their host’s behavior in order to spread spores to other hosts. This is real alien lifeform sort of behavior, really creepy stuff. This reminds me of the Amazonian ground-dwelling ant, which when infected by a fungus, has its nervous system re-programmed to climb high into the canopy, lock its jaws onto a leaf or twicg, and the dies. The dead ant then bursts, scattering spores all over the ground to infect other ants.

Fungi have also been studied as commensal lifeforms to forest trees, helping spread genetic material, nutrients and chemical messages both within and across species.

We have a good concept of individual organisms as complex systems, but they may be much more than that. Communities of organisms seem to exhibit higher order levels of complexity as well. When we destroy an ecosystem, or alter one for our own use, we are creating devastation beyond our imagining; rain forests, coral reefs, perhaps the entire biosphere itself are self-regulating systems, perhaps even capable of evolving their own sentience.

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