Posted on 03/29/2019 6:24:52 AM PDT by Red Badger
A doomsday fungus known as Bd has condemned more species to extinction than any other pathogen.
A century ago, a strain of pandemic flu killed up to 100 million people—5 percent of the world’s population. In 2013, a new mystery illness swept the western coast of North America, causing starfish to disintegrate. In 2015, a big-nosed Asian antelope known as the saiga lost two-thirds of its population—some 200,000 individuals—to what now looks to be a bacterial infection. But none of these devastating infections comes close to the destructive power of Bd—a singularly apocalyptic fungus that’s unrivaled in its ability not only to kill animals, but to delete entire species from existence.
Bd—Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in full—kills frogs and other amphibians by eating away at their skin and triggering fatal heart attacks. It’s often said that the fungus has caused the decline or extinction of 200 amphibian species, but that figure is almost two decades out-of-date. New figures, compiled by a team led by Ben Scheele from the Australian National University, are much worse.
Scheele’s team estimates that the fungus has caused the decline of 501 amphibian species—about 6.5 percent of the known total. Of these, 90 have been wiped out entirely. Another 124 have fallen by more than 90 percent, and their odds of recovery are slim. Never in recorded history has a single disease burned down so much of the tree of life. “It rewrote our understanding of what disease could do to wildlife,” Scheele says.
“It’s a terrifying summary,” says Jodi Rowley from the Australian Museum. “We knew it was bad, but this really confirms how bad. And these are just the declines we know about.”
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Trump Derangement Syndrome
Been in many...................
Imagine how good the world will be again...........................
You're right - to survive it would have to evolve into something like a human flesh eating group A Streptococcus bacteria...
I just ponder being naked in the Garden of Eden with no mosquitos or gnats, nothing on the ground to poke your foot, no Leggos for sure. You lay down on the ground and your body is not invaded by a billion critters that want to eat and reproduce on you. All the plants are for beauty and food. Today most plants are invasive and poison. Yes I've spend a lot of time thinking about that.
Then we have heaven which God says “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
No, it won’t disappear, but it will require high levels of continual funding that will grow at 3 times the rate of inflation every year forever.
Like all government does.
We will have ‘spirit bodies’, for we will be like Him.
If you wish to see what’s on the far side of any galaxy, poof!, you are there!.........................
Until the resurrection. Christ has a physical body.
Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.
The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.
So far the false positive rate is 100%.
At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.
*sigh* Such is life, and death...
More cheery news for a Friday...
May you two never meet...
I don’t want a “spirit body.” I want the real thing. I want to be able to touch things and eat, and sleep and rock my grandbabies. Oh. Wait. My grandbabies are having babies of their own. Never mind.
;o]
‘Face
I can only partially imagine from the very little the Bible says of it.
With the ‘Spirit body’ you will be able to do anything you can do with a physical body and much, much more!
Remember God visited Abraham and even ate with him!.............
Considering how much I love astronomy that's a really exciting thought. So is the thought of getting my vision back and getting rid of my aches and pains.
Yes, there's a fungus among us, so put it to an end and bend the trend.
The Lord has a permanent hall pass on whatever He wants to do.
We will have physical bodies. They will have different properties but the risen Christ could be touched, and with his disciples walked and talked with them. He had a physical body and so will we
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