Plants are just like⊠Too much sun. Not enough sun. Ground too wet. Ground too dry. The pH balance is wrong. Thereâs not enough drainage. I donât like terracotta. Feed me. Stop feeding me. God was killed here. I do not vibe with this soil.
then plants in nature be like⊠OWO .. is that a crack in the concrete?
Welwitschia mirabilis (commonly known as Welwitschia or tree tumbo) is a monotypic gymnosperm native to the Namib desert in Namibia and Angola. An adult welwitschia consists of roots, a stem base, and only two leaves (the same two leaves from when the plant was a seedling). The two leaves, which can grow to over 26 feet in diameter, lie on the ground becoming torn to ribbons and tattered with age. Their estimated lifespan, using carbon dating, is 400-1500 years with the oldest being over 2000 years.
imagine being a plant so old the scientists have to use carbon dating to find your age. carbon dating, a technique also used to find the ages of fossils and artifacts
just reminding everyone, too, that right now thereâs a growing amount of evidence for the family this plant is in (the Gnetophytes, which are all equally strange to this plant, like trust me its a goddamn ride) being the sister family to all flowering plants. we could have had a world where instead of flowers, we had this and itâs weird alien cones and hell leaves heaped in all directions on this god forsaken earth
Well this is a morbid subject but
HEY itâs almost Halloween baby!! I was super curious about what toxins actually
do on a molecular level after reading about cone snails. Obviously toxins can kill you, but how?? I wanted to know the grisly details. This is not an exhaustive list, just some types of poison, venom, and other toxic substances I was curious about, so letâs get to it.
Deadly
Nightshade
Where is it found?Atropa belladonna grows in Europe, North Africa
and Western Asia.
How it works: slows your heart waaaaaay down. deadly nightshade contains
tropane alkaloids atropine, hyoscine (scopolamine), and hyoscyaminewhich
disrupt the nervous systemâs ability to regulate activities such as heart rate,
breathing and sweating.It can cause narcosis, paralysisand
heart failure as a result.Yikes. But an antidote exists that can
reverse these affects if administered in time.
Toxicity: the entire plant is toxic, with roots having the highest
toxicity but berries posing the greatest threat to humans because of their
appearance. 10-20 berries can kill an adult, and 2-4 can kill a child. Symptoms
of mild poisoning include dilated pupils, sensitivity to light, loss of
balance, confusion, hallucinations (wild) and convulsions. Doesnât sound like a good time.
Do not eat the shiny attractive
berries!!! (cows and rabbits and other animals
can eat it but humans, dogs and catsâŠNOT SO MUCH)
Totally fun and not morbid fact: during the Renaissance, belladonna was used by women in small quantities to dilate pupils and give a seductive appearance, and this is how it gets its name belladonna, or beautiful woman. Atropa comes from the Greek Fate Atropos who cuts the threads of mortal lives with her shears. Snip snip!
Hemlock
Where is it found?Conium maculatum grows naturally in Europe and
North Africa, and has spread to North and South America, Australia and
Western Asia.
How it works: stops your breathing. the flowers contain an alkaloid called
coniine, which directly affects the nervous system and causes paralysis of
respiratory muscles, leading to death from oxygen deprivation. Hemlock
poisoning is treated by artificial ventilation for 48-72 hours until the effects wear off.
Toxicity: about 100 milligrams of coniine is fatal to an adult.
Thatâs about 6-8 hemlock leaves, or a smaller dose of the seeds or root. Animals can also be poisoned and
killed by hemlock, but luckily dangerous substances cannot be passed into the
human food chain from milk or fowl.
Basically youâre only gonna get
poisoned by this if someone puts it in your tea, because I assume youâre not
gonna just go around just likeâŠchomping on pretty flowers. Right? Right?? ok good.
Arsenic
Where is it found?
arsenic is a metalloid that occurs often with sulfurs
and metals. It can be present in volcanic ash and groundwater, and as a result
can be found in low (acceptable) levels in plants and seafood. Good news: it is rare to find arsenic occurring at dangerous levels in nature.
How it works: in high levels, arsenic disrupts ATP production and causes
organ failure due to necrotic cell death. This process can last between
2 hours to multiple days. It can also be fatal in lower doses administered over
a period of time, and as such, was a popular murder weapon when it was readily
available during the 1800s in England.Symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea donât
immediately alert someone that there has been an attempted murder unless maybe
youâre Sherlock Holmes.
Toxicity: google probably thinks Iâm a murderer and wonât tell me just
how much arsenic will kill a person. COME ON, google!!!itâs for
SCIENCE!
Arsenic is no longer readily available
for people to just get in large quantities, so thatâs a RELIEF.
Cyanide
Where is it found?
cyanide is a chemical compound produced by certain
algae, bacteria and fungi. It is also found in plants such as peaches, apples,
apricots and bitter almonds. A type of bamboo that grows in Madagascar is so
rich in cyanide that it would kill humans, but not the golden bamboo lemur for
whom this bamboo is a primary source of food!!! You go girl, eat that cyanide
bamboo.
How it works: in non-bamboo-lemurs, cyanide disrupts ATP production, affects
the central nervous system and heart, and causes histotoxic hypoxia: the
inability of cells to take up oxygen from the bloodstream.Antidotes can
work if administered in timefor lower doses of cyanide.
Toxicity: 200 milligrams of solid cyanide or a cyanide solution, or exposure
to airborne cyanide of 270 parts per million is sufficient to cause death
within minutes. Um, YIKES. Really, cyanide was already scary
enough as a solid before nature went and made it into a gas that kills upon inhalation. DEEPLY uncool.
Murder mystery writers: slip belladona or arsenic into your literary victimâs tea. Belladonna is sweat, arsenic is tasteless, but cyanide has an acrid and bitter taste.
Fun (well, not fun) fact: if you eat
200 apple seeds (about 40 apple cores) you will receive a fatal dose of
cyanide. So like, donât do that. An apple a day keeps the doctor away and is
completely safe, but 40 apples apple cores a day WILL KILL YOU
Vampire
Bat Saliva
Where is it found?
Vampire bats are found in the Americas.
How it works: a toxic substance called Draculin (Iâm serious) in the
saliva of vampire bats acts as an anticoagulant by inhibiting an enzyme
involved in the coagulation pathway.
Toxicity: vampire bats are indeed venomous and toxic, but they are not at all
lethal. It just sorta sucks if youâre being bitten by a vampire bat,
but youâll live. Unless that bat has rabies. Vampire bat saliva also
contains an analgesic, meaning the bites are almost completely painless. SO
THATâS SOMETHING
Cobra
Venom
âhello do you have a moment to hear
about cell death?â
Where is it found? Many species of cobra are found throughout
Africa, Southwest and Southeast Asia.
How it works: most cobra venom includes neurotoxins that cause paralysis
as well as cytotoxins that cause necrosis and blood coagulation. blood coagulation can happen in minutes.
Toxicity: many types of cobra venom are treatable, but may leave
disfigurement from necrosis. If this isnât scary enough for you, just know that
spitting cobras can reach 2.7 m (8.9 ft) in length and like to aim for the
eyes.
But youâd still rather be bitten by
a cobra than THIS deadly mofo:
Venom
of the Inland Taipan
Where is it found?
the inland taipan is the most venomous
snake in the world and lives, YOU GUESSED IT, in Australia, ie the place
where everything is designed to kill you. Evolution decided it can reach 1.8
meters (5.9 feet) with a maximum length of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), which I think
everyone can agree is a dick move on evolutionâs part. Take it back, TAKE IT
BACK!!!!!
How it works: the venom contains neurotoxins, hemotoxins, and myotoxins
AND an enzyme to increase absorption of the venom. Basically it causes
paralysis, blood coagulation and muscle damage, because one of these things
wasnât enough apparently. Antivenoms against Australian venomous snakes
exist but are least effective against the venom of the inland taipan.
Toxicity: the inland taipanâs venom has a murine LD50 value
of 0.025m/kg. This means there is a 50% chance that .025 milligrams per kilogram of weight
will cause death. Itâs bite contains enough venom to kill at least 100 adult humans. But GOOD NEWS! the inland taipan lives
in such remote places that it rarely comes in contact with people. Other
slightly less venomous snakes are therefore responsible for more deaths.
âŠ.So thatâsâŠstill terrifying. just donât go into the woods in
Australia FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
Whatâs deadlier than the deadliest
snake in the world, you ask?
Tetrodotoxin
Where is it found?
tetrodotoxin is found in several animals such as
pufferfish, moon snails and the small but deadly Australian blue ringed octopus (DAMMIT
Australia)
How it works: blocks sodium channels. This prevents normal transmission of
signals between the body and brain, causing loss of sensation, paralysis and
inability to breathe. Fun!!!Donât pick up the frickin evil little octopus
Toxicity: more powerful than cyanide, thatâs for sure, about a thousand
times more powerful in fact. the oral median lethal dose (LD50) for mice
as 334 micrograms
per kilogram. Fatal pufferfish poisoning result in death in about 17 minutes.
The blue-ringed octopus, however, carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans
within just a few minutes. There is no anti-venom.
Whatâs worse than that, you ask? Ah,
you shouldnât have asked.
Conotoxin
Where is it found? Cone snails are found in the Indo-Pacific, the
Cape of South Africa, the Mediterranean, and even southern California. Smaller
species are not that dangerous. Larger species, howeverâŠ
How it works: paralysis within minutes.cone snails have
multiple harpoons to administer venom to prey (or unsuspecting humans). the
harpoons deliver a venom that has HUNDREDS of different types of toxins, each
targeting different nerve channels or receptors. Some cone snail venom even
includes pain-reducing toxins. These pain reducing toxins can be 100 to 1,000
times more powerful than morphine. How THOUGHTFUL.
Toxicity: vastly more potent than tetrodotoxin. the oral median lethal
dose (LD50) for mice is is 10 to 100 micrograms/kilogram. So like, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT LOL
Ricin
Where is it found?
Ricin
is obtained from the beans of the castor oil plant.
How it works: inhibits protein production and results in organ failure, respiratory failure and circulatory shock.
Toxicity:
The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight. If that sounds bad just wait till you hear about poison dart frogs đ
VX
Where is it found? Nowhere in nature. VX is synthetic. It is an oily amber colored liquid in
its natural form, was first developed as a pesticide and later for chemical
warfare. It is considered a weapon of mass destruction and is banned under the
Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993.
How it works: causes stimulation and fatigue of muscarinic and nicotinic
ACh receptors, resulting in violent contractions followed by paralysis and
death by asphyxiation.
Toxicity: 7 micrograms/kilogram. this is one of the most toxic synthetic substances on earth. Humans have got nothing on mother nature thoughâŠ
Batrachotoxin
(This guy is called phyllobates
TERRIBILIS. but is his cute little face terrible? noooo.)
Where is it found?in certain types of beetles, birds and poison dart
frogs found in Colombia.
How it works: similar to conotoxin, batrachotoxin interrupts sodium
channels. The resulting migration of Na+ ions causes heart failureand
paralysis.
Toxicity: The LD50 is around 2 micrograms per kilogram, meaning
that an amount the size of two grains of table salt will kill you, and that
this is even worse than a cone snail, Ricin, or VX. Batrachotoxin is one of the
deadliest alkaloids known. No antidote exists.
Fun frog fact: this was the poison
commonly used by the Embera-Wounaan for poison darts, and thatâs where poison
dart frogs get their name! HowâŠcute.
Botulinum,
most toxic substance in the world
Where is it found?
made by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum and
related species.
How it works: causes Botulism, which if untreated can result in paralysis
and respiratory failure by preventing the release of the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine. Botulinum is used in very very very VEEEEEEERY small amounts in
Botox, in case you ever needed reasons NOT to do Botox lol.
Toxicity: the lethal dose of 1.3â2.1 nanograms per kilogram in humans. of any
toxin natural or synthetic, this is the deadliest known.However!! Actual
good news this time: treatments involving antitoxin therapy and intubation
are very successful and mortality from Botulismis extremely low.Yay!Â
More good news: toxins have been instrumental in medicinal breakthroughs throughout history and continue to be vital to modern medicine. A drug for diabetes was recently synthesized from Gila monster venom: it increases the production of insulin when blood sugar levels are high. A painkiller has been developed for chronic pain patients that is derived from a component of the venom of our friend, you guessed it, the cone snail! These are just two examples of toxins being used in medicine, and a lot of research is still being done because face it: we still donât know a lot about how our bodies work. Paralyzing agents are extremely important to our understanding of the body and the development of non-opiate non-addictive painkillers because of how they disrupt signals between nerves and the brain.
Long story short: donât eat nightshade and stay OFF AUSTRALIAN BEACHES and you should be just fine.Â
Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to benign tumors or warts in animals. Gall wasps induce these growths on plants for their young to develop inside.
The hatching larvae nourish themselves with the nutritive tissue of the galls, in which they are otherwise well-protected from external environmental effects.
The inducement for the gall formation is largely unknown; discussion speculates as to chemical, mechanical, and viral triggers.
ifesbob 