Download or read book Parasites of the Universe written by Evelyn Moores and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2013-01-29 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Parasites of the Universe explores what life might be like in a future with few resources, countless diseases, poisonous waters, and a deadly, infiltrating sun. The story is told through the life experience of a woman who is a member of one of the three diminutive tribes that gather in a small semi-inhabitable region. It presents binding and oppressive traditions and delicate interactions between peoples and a harsh environment.
Download or read book Parasite Rex written by Carl Zimmer and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-11-09 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites control the minds of their hosts, sending them to their destruction. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites are masters of chemical warfare and camouflage, able to cloak themselves with their hosts' own molecules. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE parasites steer the course of evolution, where the majority of species are parasites. WELCOME TO EARTH. For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and in the darkest shadows of science. Yet these creatures are among the world's most successful and sophisticated organisms. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer deftly balances the scientific and the disgusting as he takes readers on a fantastic voyage. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the fetid parasite haven of southern Sudan, Zimmer graphically brings to life how parasites can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead. This thorough, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe.
Download or read book This Is Your Brain On Parasites written by Kathleen McAuliffe and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-06-07 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Engrossing . . . [An] expedition through the hidden and sometimes horrifying microbial domain.” —The Wall Street Journal Parasites can live only inside another animal and, as Kathleen McAuliffe reveals, these tiny organisms have many evolutionary motives for manipulating the behavior of their hosts. With astonishing precision, parasites can coax rats to approach cats, spiders to transform the patterns of their webs, and fish to draw the attention of birds that then swoop down to feast on them. We humans are hardly immune to their influence. Organisms we pick up from our own pets are strongly suspected of changing our personality traits and contributing to recklessness and impulsivity—even suicide. Germs that cause colds and the flu may alter our behavior even before symptoms become apparent. Parasites influence our species on the cultural level, too. Drawing on a huge body of research, McAuliffe argues that our dread of contamination is an evolved defense against parasites. The horror and revulsion we are programmed to feel when we come in contact with people who appear diseased or dirty helped pave the way for civilization, but may also be the basis for major divisions in societies that persist to this day. This Is Your Brain on Parasites is both a journey into cutting-edge science and a revelatory examination of what it means to be human. “If you’ve ever doubted the power of microbes to shape society and offer us a grander view of life, read on and find yourself duly impressed.” —Bookforum “Fascinating—and full of the kind of factoids you can’t wait to share.” —Scientific American “Humorous, inspiring, and macabre, this is infectious reading in the tradition of giants like Robert S. Desowitz and Jared Diamond.” —Michael A. Huffman, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University
Download or read book The Mind Parasites written by Colin Wilson and published by Monkfish Book Publishing. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wilson has blended H.P. Lovecraft's dark vision with his own revolutionary philosophy and unique narrative powers to produce a stunning, high-tension story of vaulting imagination. A professor makes a horrifying discovery while excavating a sinister archaeological site. For over 200 years, mind parasites have been lurking in the deepest layers of human consciousness, feeding on human life force and steadily gaining a foothold on the planet. Now they threaten humanity's extinction. They can be fought with one weapon only: the mind, pushed to--and beyond--its limits. Pushed so far that humans can read each other's thoughts, that the moon can be shifted from its orbit by thought alone. Pushed so that man can at last join battle with the loathsome parasites on equal terms.
Download or read book Parasite Biodiversity written by Robert Poulin and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2014-05-27 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive, groundbreaking book on the biodiversity of parasites offers a clear and accessible explanation of how parasite biodiversity provides insight into the history and biogeography of other organisms, the structure of ecosystems, and the processes that lead to the diversification of life.
Download or read book Parasite written by Mira Grant and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant comes a vision of a decade in the future, where humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite — a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system — even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them. "A riveting near-future medical thriller that reads like the genetically-engineered love child of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton." —John Joseph Adams More from Mira Grant: Parasitology Parasite Symbiont Chimera Newsflesh Feed Deadline Blackout Feedback Rise
Download or read book The Supernaturalist written by Eoin Colfer and published by Disney Electronic Content. This book was released on 2009-11-24 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the future, in a place called Satelite City, fourteen-year-old Cosmo Hill enters the world, unwanted by his parents. He's sent to the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, Freight class. At Clarissa Frayne, the boys are put to work by the state, testing highly dangerous products. At the end of most days, they are covered with burns, bruises, and sores. Cosmo realizes that if he doesn't escape, he will die at this so-called orphanage. When the moment finally comes, Cosmo seizes his chance and breaks out with the help of the Supernaturalists, a motley crew of kids who all have the same special ability as Cosmo-they can see supernatural Parasites, creatures that feed on the life force of humans.
Download or read book Parasite written by Darcy Coates and published by . This book was released on 2016-08-08 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The year is 2296. We have established nearly six hundred stations across the known system. We believe we're invincible. During our quest to reach across the unending expanse of space, humanity has discovered and catalogued hundreds of alien lifeforms. None have ever shown any sentience beyond rudimentary animalistic behaviour, and we've become complacent in our role as the universe's dominant species. We aren't. Not by a long shot. When a guard discovers an unidentified lifeform near her remote moon station, she disregards protocol to investigate it. The consequences are catastrophic. We have established nearly six hundred stations across the known system. The Cymic Parasite spread through them like wildfire. The creature's disguise is horrifyingly effective. Once it infects its host, it absorbs their insides and wears their skin as a flawless mask. This wolf in sheep's clothing tactic allows it to infiltrate and overrun planets before anyone realises what's happening. It cannot be reasoned with. It's near-impossible to kill. And its sole purpose is to contaminate as many humans as it can reach. We have established nearly six hundred stations across the known system. And we're on the threshold of losing them all.
Download or read book Plight of the Living Dead written by Matt Simon and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A brain-bending exploration of real-life zombies and mind controllers, and what they reveal to us about nature—and ourselves Zombieism isn’t just the stuff of movies and TV shows like The Walking Dead. It’s real, and it’s happening in the world around us, from wasps and worms to dogs and moose—and even humans. In Plight of the Living Dead, science journalist Matt Simon documents his journey through the bizarre evolutionary history of mind control. Along the way, he visits a lab where scientists infect ants with zombifying fungi, joins the search for kamikaze crickets in the hills of New Mexico, and travels to Israel to meet the wasp that stings cockroaches in the brain before leading them to their doom. Nothing Hollywood dreams up can match the brilliant, horrific zombies that natural selection has produced time and time again. Plight of the Living Dead is a surreal dive into a world that would be totally unbelievable if very smart scientists didn’t happen to be proving it’s real, and most troublingly—or maybe intriguingly—of all: how even we humans are affected. “Fantastic . . . You'll be thinking about this book long after you're done reading it.” —Kelly Weinersmith, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Soonish
Download or read book Parasitism written by Claude Combes and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 743 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Parasitism, Claude Combes explores the fascinating adaptations parasites have developed through their intimate interactions with their hosts. He begins with the biology of parasites—their life cycles, habitats, and different types of associations with their hosts. Next he discusses genetic interactions between hosts and parasites, and he ends with a section on the community ecology of parasites and their role in the evolution of their hosts. Throughout the book Combes enlivens his discussion with a wealth of concrete examples of host-parasite interactions.
Download or read book Parasite written by Darcy Coates and published by Black Owl Books. This book was released on 2016-08-06 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a guard discovers an unusual lifeform on her remote moon outpost, she disregards protocol to investigate―with catastrophic consequences. It soon becomes clear she's stuck in isolation with an alien capable of incredible depravity. The parasite wears its victims' skins and adopts their personalities. It mimics the way they talk, the way they look, the way they act. It's the perfect disguise. And by the time humanity realizes it's facing extinction, it's already too late. As the alien's ruthless progress collapses communication networks, wipes out defenses, and leaves hundreds of stations to fend for themselves, a handful of remarkable individuals must find a way to battle the greatest threat the universe has ever encountered... or die trying.
Download or read book Some Minute Animal Parasites Or Unseen Foes in the Animal World Classic Reprint written by H. B. Fantham and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-10-17 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Some Minute Animal Parasites, or Unseen Foes in the Animal World The selection of subject-matter, naturally, has presented some difficulty, but so far as possible that side of the science of Protozoology, that comes in direct contact with human life and needs, has been chosen in preference to that which deals with the more theoretical and speculative side. Diseases of man, cattle, horses, poultry, game, fish, and bees, due to parasitic Protozoa, thus occupy a large pro portion of the book. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Download or read book The Cheese and the Worms written by Carlo Ginzburg and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Offers a study of culture in the sixteenth century as seen through the eyes of one man, the miller known as Menocchio, who was accused of heresy during the Inquisition and sentenced to death. This book illustrates the confusing political and religious conditions of the time"--Publisher marketing.
Download or read book Guess What Came to Dinner written by Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., CNS and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-07-09 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you having difficulty shaking an illness? Have you been feeling chronically tired and listless? Do you have a health problem your doctor can’t identify? The cause may be parasites in your body. If you think that parasitic diseases happen only to people in Third World Countries, think again. The rate of parasite-related disorders in North American is skyrocketing. In this completely revised and updated edition of the most authoritative book on the subject for consumers, renowned nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman gives the information you need to know to ward off unwelcome organisms. Guess What Came to Dinner? explains what parasites are, why they are harmful, and how they are spread. Most importantly, she offers tips on creating a parasite-proof diet and lifestyle. What Came to Dinner? is the indispensible guide to protecting yourself and your loved ones from this hidden epidemic.
Download or read book Plagues and the Paradox of Progress written by Thomas J. Bollyky and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-10-09 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why the news about the global decline of infectious diseases is not all good. Plagues and parasites have played a central role in world affairs, shaping the evolution of the modern state, the growth of cities, and the disparate fortunes of national economies. This book tells that story, but it is not about the resurgence of pestilence. It is the story of its decline. For the first time in recorded history, virus, bacteria, and other infectious diseases are not the leading cause of death or disability in any region of the world. People are living longer, and fewer mothers are giving birth to many children in the hopes that some might survive. And yet, the news is not all good. Recent reductions in infectious disease have not been accompanied by the same improvements in income, job opportunities, and governance that occurred with these changes in wealthier countries decades ago. There have also been unintended consequences. In this book, Thomas Bollyky explores the paradox in our fight against infectious disease: the world is getting healthier in ways that should make us worry. Bollyky interweaves a grand historical narrative about the rise and fall of plagues in human societies with contemporary case studies of the consequences. Bollyky visits Dhaka—one of the most densely populated places on the planet—to show how low-cost health tools helped enable the phenomenon of poor world megacities. He visits China and Kenya to illustrate how dramatic declines in plagues have affected national economies. Bollyky traces the role of infectious disease in the migrations from Ireland before the potato famine and to Europe from Africa and elsewhere today. Historic health achievements are remaking a world that is both worrisome and full of opportunities. Whether the peril or promise of that progress prevails, Bollyky explains, depends on what we do next. A Council on Foreign Relations Book
Download or read book Toto Enters The Parasite Universe written by Jaehoon Choi and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2023-08-23 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Toto enters the bizarre world of parasites, creatures we don't normally think about, but which are fascinating! Toto and friends investigate a secret plot in the parasite world and race against time to counter it. Will Toto triumph? Let's find out!An epic battle is taking place right before our very eyes, noses, ears and mouths! And help is on the way from an unlikely but lovable source. What is this source? Meet Toto, your average boy who takes an extraordinary journey to unpack the fascinating world of viruses, parasites, bacteria and mold! Become a germs expert and triumph!Series features:
Download or read book The Parasite Stress Theory of Values and Sociality written by Randy Thornhill and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-07-17 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book develops and tests an ecological and evolutionary theory of the causes of human values—the core beliefs that guide people’s cognition and behavior—and their variation across time and space around the world. We call this theory the parasite-stress theory of values or the parasite-stress theory of sociality. The evidence we present in our book indicates that both a wide span of human affairs and major aspects of human cultural diversity can be understood in light of variable parasite (infectious disease) stress and the range of value systems evoked by variable parasite stress. The same evidence supports the hypothesis that people have psychological adaptations that function to adopt values dependent upon local infectious-disease adversity. The authors have identified key variables, variation in infectious disease adversity and in the core values it evokes, for understanding these topics and in novel and encompassing ways. Although the human species is the focus in the book, evidence presented in the book shows that the parasite-stress theory of sociality informs other topics in ecology and evolutionary biology such as variable family organization and speciation processes and biological diversity in general in non-human animals.
