Yikes! It regenerates if cut into pieces and it secretes tetrodotoxin: what's not to like (if you're writing a horror story)?
https://flipboard.com/@sciencealert/nature-07r4nfldz/-/a-r1v1xvN2Q6eSxmONrjr5sQ%3Aa%3A565656366-%2F0
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@cstross I just saw one of these on my garden stairs for the first time, about a week ago. California tho.
Didn't touch it or kill it. My kid's and I joked that it was an alien.
@cstross Oh I don't love this at all.
@cstross Direct link without all the fl*board tracking crap
https://www.sciencealert.com/toxic-hammerhead-worm-is-invading-texas-triggering-warnings
@cstross I like when creatures of horror are harnessed by Science for Humanity's gain.
@cstross Hey Elon, remember those flamethrowers you were selling a while back?
The facts that they were first discovered in #KewGardens, are invasive here too, population maps show them as most prevalent in Scotland, and they like Scotland's cooler climate and garden centres?
Or that the case invented by British naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward is considered to have been a major enabler of their spread around the planet (carried via samples transported to botanical gardens) during the 19th century?
Sleep tight. (-:
@cstross TTX is one of those things where you ingest it and say “hey my tongue feels” and then you’re dead.
Interesting that responding to the worm with violence only makes the problem worse, and it’s attacking Texas where they respond to problems with violence habitually, especially problems made worse with violence.
@cstross
Decimates the local earthworm population. Earthworm population that is in itself an invasive phenomenon in North America.
@cstross I have to go to sleep in about 11hr and now I'm not sure about that
@cstross Ah, tetrodotoxin, the compound that can cause a deathlike state. Less a Zombie outbreak and more of a waking up during the autopsy vibe…
@cstross Well, it is TX. The gov. will claim it's caused from some democratic cabal. The people will ignore all warnings and only follow whatever tiktok or meta vid comes into their feed. Hopefully a "drink the worm" trend will start and help solve several problems at once. Perhaps a few short stories from the horror community could help.
They crawled out of Kennedy's ear when he swam in that sewage.
@cstross And yet, for all its loathsome nature, it's still more pleasant than Texas' state government.
Kind of a feat, tbh.
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