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PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
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A sub-series of the PBS program NOVA. This episode, the fourth out of seven, first aired September 1, 2001 and has a RT of 56:37.
Survival of the fittest. Raw competition? Or, a level of cooperation indispensable to life? Evolution tells us that both are important. This program explores the spiraling arms race humans have with microorganisms, the only entities that pose a threat to human existence. The program follows the struggles of medical detectives uncovering the roots of epidemics and traces the alarming spread of resistance among pathogens that cause disease, like the new virulent tuberculosis—nicknamed Ebola with wings. Interactions between species are among the most powerful evolutionary forces on Earth, and understanding them may be key to human survival.
Survival of the fittest. Raw competition? Or, a level of cooperation indispensable to life? Evolution tells us that both are important. This program explores the spiraling arms race humans have with microorganisms, the only entities that pose a threat to human existence. The program follows the struggles of medical detectives uncovering the roots of epidemics and traces the alarming spread of resistance among pathogens that cause disease, like the new virulent tuberculosis—nicknamed Ebola with wings. Interactions between species are among the most powerful evolutionary forces on Earth, and understanding them may be key to human survival.
Mar 14, 2009 11:55 AM
Re: PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
Just a quickie FYI to our friendly moderators: NOVA, not NOVA ScienceNOW.
By: spam_vigilante
Re: PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
Hey, I love and respect a good disease as much as the next guy [read: am fascinated by diseases about three degrees from the mean], and TB is a good, respectable disease, but "Ebola with wings" it ain't. Ebola can kill 90% of its hosts, 2-25 day incubation period. It doesn't wait for years dormant, it just fucks you up and you bleed out. Want to get scared? Read about hemorrhagic fevers. "Hot Zone" is an excellent read if you're down.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
Don't get me wrong--Ebola burns out too fast. We're more likely to be done in by TB than Ebola any day. Ebola's a sprinter, and can't get out of it's hometowns; TB can do the Iron Man. It won't hit it and quit it.
I think pestilence is likely to be our end. Global warming makes mosquitoes able to move North, spreading Malaria. Wars make for bad sanitation, spreading Cholera. Bad health care leads to MRSA and so many other resistant strains.
Anywho...excellent clip. Would love to see the whole series.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs103/en/
Don't get me wrong--Ebola burns out too fast. We're more likely to be done in by TB than Ebola any day. Ebola's a sprinter, and can't get out of it's hometowns; TB can do the Iron Man. It won't hit it and quit it.
I think pestilence is likely to be our end. Global warming makes mosquitoes able to move North, spreading Malaria. Wars make for bad sanitation, spreading Cholera. Bad health care leads to MRSA and so many other resistant strains.
Anywho...excellent clip. Would love to see the whole series.
Re: PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
I think your analogy makes a mountain of sense.
As for more to the series, we already have two of the bunch here. I'm about to post a third.
As for more to the series, we already have two of the bunch here. I'm about to post a third.
By: spam_vigilante
Hot Zone
I also like the analogy. I remember being terrified to read in Hot Zone that enough Botox was created in the Eighties to kill every person on Earth a thousand times, and that almost none of it could be accounted for. Imagine my relief when I discovered that that toxin has a shelf life of a few years at best. That being said, Hot Zone was either poorly researched or an intentionally sensationalist exaggeration. I won't say which I'm inclined to believe.
Re: PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
So.... the point is I need to lick some horse and cat shit every now and then to become imune from killer viruses?
By: KeyserSosay
Re: PBS Evolution: Evolutionary Arms Race
If you're looking for a good dose of Toxoplasma gondii protozoa, I think eating cat shit is an efficient way to get it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
What I got from the episode was that studies suggest hanging out in stables might be a way to prevent developing allergies, but I'm not judging your hobbies. Eat cat shit right out the box and call it Almond Roca if you want. Just know that those protozoa can be nasty, man. Make you see Christmas, and not in a fun way. Kinda Grinchy, fah cheezy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii
What I got from the episode was that studies suggest hanging out in stables might be a way to prevent developing allergies, but I'm not judging your hobbies. Eat cat shit right out the box and call it Almond Roca if you want. Just know that those protozoa can be nasty, man. Make you see Christmas, and not in a fun way. Kinda Grinchy, fah cheezy.
