an invasive and toxic species originating from Southeast Asia are present in several Ontario communities this spring including cities in the GTA and surrounding areas Experts believe they came to North America in shipping containers It can cause skin and eye irritation in humans and can harm a pet if ingested "While there are no documented cases of humans becoming ill from handling these worms, they should be avoided and if accidentally handled, wash hands immediately," Conservation Hamilton says on its website Hammerhead worms grow to about 10 cm in length and can be multicoloured The name is a general term for several flatworm species under the Bipalium genus.' hammerhead worms have a parlour trick: If cut in half Hammerhead worms won't get too far on their own—they're mostly moved by human activities You can help stop their potential spread by keeping soil local—don't transport it to other communities Header image: James Lees/Dundas Valley Conservation Area and with temperatures soaring into the high teens this week there are some warm-weather creepy-crawlies now emerging that people may want to familiarize themselves with The wandering broadhead planarian (Bipalium adventitium), or hammerhead worm, was first sighted in Ontario in 2017 and the potentially dangerous invasive species of large carnivorous landworm has been regularly spotted in the years since And pet owners with gardens should take special note of this threat that could be lurking closer than expected Native to Asia and deemed invasive in North America hammerhead worms get their nickname from their distinctive T-shaped heads and dark red stripe running down the length of their squirming these worms are efficient predators with voracious appetites Oh, and they can grow to be three feet long Hammerhead worms are capable of ecological destruction by preying on native earthworm species which are totally defenseless against these wriggling carnivores and can easily be killed off in great numbers by just a small population of these invaders.  adventitium will stalk its victims using chemoreceptors that can detect faint chemical trails left by native worm species Once these predators catch up with their victims they will immobilize prey by coiling around their bodies these worms deliver a fatal blow with a stabbing appendage called an everted pharynx that looks like it came straight from the Alien movie franchise And these critters can harm animals several hundred times their size adventitium that has been confirmed as present in Ontario packs a potent punch for any animals that mistake them for a slimy snack a neurotoxin found in some of the world's most deadly animals like the pufferfish and blue-ringed octopus poses serious danger to pets and even humans Scientists aren't aligned on the evolutionary function of this toxin for the worms but there is no doubt about just how harmful tetrodotoxin is Its oral median lethal dose (LD50) of 334 micrograms per kilogram in mice is orders of magnitude more toxic than even potassium cyanide at 8,500 micrograms per kilogram Ingesting these worms can cause illness and even death while merely handling them can cause symptoms like skin irritation Gloves are recommended for anyone attempting to remove and dispose of these harmful garden invaders to avoid contact with their toxic mucus Sightings of these worms tend to spike in the damp spring and fall months and the first hammerheads of the year were spotted in late March as the post-winter thaw arrived The first suspected hammerhead worms of the year were reported (but remain unconfirmed) using online observation platform iNaturalist out of Windsor and several more sightings are expected to pop up as weather conditions become more favourable for worms to surface You're most likely to see these worms in the typical worm-friendly places being an invasive but also potentially deadly species should be exterminated with the utmost ruthlessness but exercise extreme caution while doing so When reports of hammerheads first started stirring up attention in Ontario back in 2022 Rebecca Morton of Toronto-based Armour Pest Control told blogTO that there are some easy and environmentally-friendly methods of dispatching these invaders it's critical to catch them without contacting bare skin and kill them with salt then dispose of them in a sealed container," said Morton Experts also suggest avoiding any method that involves cutting the worms as these segmented creatures can regenerate into two separate worms if split in two Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker By JO MACFARLANE Looking at Kyla Fuller today it is almost impossible to imagine that she spent more than a decade desperately ill. The 33-year-old practically radiates with enthusiasm, and has a zest for life that allows her to work on charter boats on Australia’s tropical Queensland coast But rewind two years and it was a different story Her body was ravaged by such severe Crohn’s disease she was hospitalised several times with agonising bowel abscesses and abdominal pain and instead was relying on meal-replacement shakes for nutrition The chronic inflammatory bowel condition, which affects half a million people in the UK, is part of a spectrum of autoimmune diseases – those which cause the immune system to attack the body’s own healthy tissues. In the case of Crohn’s it causes the gut to become swollen, inflamed and ulcerated, leading to crippling cramps, diarrhoea, fatigue and weight loss and the treatments – which include immune-system suppressing drugs and surgery – can only help manage symptoms with varying success and unpleasant side effects At one point Kyla weighed just 6st 8lb (42kg) and felt But today she no longer suffers symptoms or takes medication Her last serious flare-up was in April 2024 and she can eat normally again who has suffered with severe Crohn's disease is undertaking the alternative parasite treatment she deposits the contents on to a bandage which she affixes to her arm for 24 hours allowing the worms to burrow into her skin Kyla and others who have experimented with helminth therapy now post about their experiences on social media in clips that often garner hundreds of thousands of views And the reason for this unlikely turnaround She believes it is due to a controversial alternative treatment using parasites Kyla receives a vial of fluid through the post containing dozens of microscopic hookworm and whipworm larvae – intestinal parasitic worms It sounds repulsive – and would be easy to dismiss as hokum Certainly no UK doctors openly recommend it But there is a growing body of research that suggests these parasites could hold vital clues in helping to treat some of our trickiest diseases And they genuinely believe that the treatment has proved life-changing ‘I feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life,’ Kyla says The worms used in helminth therapy are parasites – microscopic organisms which have evolved to survive inside either humans or other animals humans became infected by walking barefoot on soil contaminated by their larvae or eggs or by eating unwashed vegetables or fruit grown in contaminated soil But they are now cultivated by suppliers that deliver them internationally for research or therapeutic use Four main parasites are used for the treatment are sold as larvae which are applied to the skin in a bandage They burrow through skin and mature as they move through the body pig whipworms and rat tapeworms – are given in egg-form and can be taken in a drink All are thought to work slightly differently Anecdotal evidence compiled by online groups suggests that hookworms are particularly effective for inflammatory diseases of the small intestine while tapeworms might be better for alopecia ‘I’m still coming to terms with the fact that I’m not sick any more Autoimmune diseases are complex to manage and involve a lot of moving parts but for many people I would argue that helminths could be a key missing piece of the puzzle.’ Scientists are now investigating whether parasites – specifically the chemicals they release inside the human body to prevent being killed by the immune system – could be harnessed against a range of diseases from allergies to cancer a parasite expert at the University of Nottingham puts it: ‘I would never recommend anyone tries this with live parasites but the scientific possibilities they offer are definitely intriguing The theory that parasites could be helpful to human health is based on the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ – the idea that our immune system has evolved to be exposed to a variety of parasites But as sanitation has improved over the past two centuries we no longer come into contact with these micro-organisms to the same extent our immune system has turned inward – it’s begun to attack the body and over-react to harmless substances such as pollen or peanuts Advocates of the theory say this has contributed to an explosion in allergies and autoimmune conditions such as Crohn’s autoimmune and allergic diseases have increased up to three-fold in recent decades a professor in parasitology from the University of Glasgow says: ‘The rise in autoimmune diseases has come at the same time as we’ve been less exposed to parasites in general alongside developments in our diets and socioeconomic changes but there is good logic to the theory that they may play a role we think that when these parasites are inside the human body in order to survive they produce chemicals that switch off the immune system and dampen down any inflammation which might damage them.’ So what does the evidence on helminthic therapy tell us Scientists in the Netherlands compared a group of children in Africa who had been given deworming treatment with another group which had not and found that those with parasites had a lower risk of allergies A separate experiment in Argentina found patients with multiple sclerosis – an autoimmune disease which affects the brain and spinal cord – who had parasitic infections saw their disease progress less quickly A small Australian study in 2015 involved giving hookworms to 12 patients with coeliac disease – an autoimmune disorder triggered by gluten eight were able to eat a bowl of pasta without an issue which could hold vital clues in helping to treat some of our trickiest diseases Prof Elsheikha warns that clinical trials have not found statistically significant benefits for most patients He says: ‘Some people feel some clinical improvements to conditions such as Crohn’s but the results aren’t consistent and people don’t always benefit.’ Most people trying helminthic therapy are not doing so with clinical oversight so there is no record of successes or failures which claims to have ‘pioneered treating autoimmune disease patients with helminths’ failed to respond to queries from The Mail on Sunday Kyla began taking helminths in July 2023 and admits she initially thought it was ‘far too weird for me’ when it was recommended on a Facebook support group It was equal parts desperation and logic that played a role in my decision.’ she bought some hookworms online from an overseas supplier after seeking recommendations and advice online The worms arrived with instructions to apply them to a bandage and to leave them on her arm for around 12 hours every few weeks then travel through the bloodstream to the lungs where they are coughed up and then swallowed ending up in the small intestine where they mature and attach to the intestinal wall they do not multiply inside the body as the eggs need to be excreted in human faeces to hatch The adults survive inside the digestive system for anywhere between months and years which included the immunosuppressant azathioprine and the steroid prednisone and says that her doctors were ‘pretty dismissive’ about the parasite therapy ‘My symptoms actually got a bit worse,’ she says ‘Either it was a natural fluctuation in my disease or because my immune system was fighting the parasite infection But after 25 weeks I was no longer feeling sick after eating simple foods which normally lasted 20 to 30 minutes after eating By week 36 the pain and nausea had significantly reduced.’ Today Kyla posts about her experience to her 4,000 followers on Instagram as @letshealibd She is no longer taking Crohn’s medication and the only symptom she still has occasionally is loose stools ‘I’ve never felt this well in my adult life,’ she adds ‘I try not to worry about my symptoms coming back – any time in remission is better than being in a flare-up Others have successfully used helminth therapy to treat inflammatory conditions such as acne who runs health-coaching business Hippiewell in Las Vegas says her food-related flare-ups eased off after she started using worms in 2019 ‘It took me a while to come around to the idea but I was desperate and it improved in a month,’ she says Experts say the future is not in using live parasites but in being able to work out which beneficial chemicals they excrete and turning those into medicines Prof Maizels says: ‘Infecting people with parasites is essentially flying blind What we’re doing in the laboratory is seeing if we can identify the helpful molecules in this process and distil them into a product which can be scaled up And there may be many more discoveries to come – there are already signs that parasites may have an anti-cancer effect ‘They could be game-changing,’ Prof Elsheikha says The comments below have not been moderated By posting your comment you agree to our house rules Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group I used to have hay fever but it was never bad enough that I resorted to ingesting worms He was hoping that the parasitic infection would essentially draw the attention of his immune system away from the grass and tree pollens he was allergic to Over the course of the summers during which his gut served as host for these worms he writes that he remained “completely free from all symptoms of hayfever." It’s called helminthic therapy and its proponents are trying to hook desperate patients with parasitic worms they claim our body needs And even though it is being taken seriously by some segments of academia Turton performed on himself in the 1970s is still happening Deliberately infecting yourself with parasites appears imbecilic on its surface we fund programs to deworm people in the Global South because worms can cause disease tiny worms that have evolved to survive inside of a host—either us or some other animal which suffers the consequences while the worm thrives and here is where we arrive at the crux of the argument in their favour: the hygiene hypothesis and overall cleaning and disinfection practices we have seen a pronounced rise in diseases with ties to our immune system: allergies Many of these are autoimmune conditions where our immune system rebels against a molecule that belongs to our body Better diagnosis and increased medical access help explain why some of these diseases are on the rise in Westernized nations “Immunology is where intuition goes to die.” If it sounds simple it’s probably not how the immune system works The goal of helminthic therapy is to reintroduce the worm into the body in an attempt to treat allergies or an autoimmune condition though; the ideal worm would not cause any disease would not multiply inside the body or colonize multiple organs It wouldn’t spread to other people or cause symptoms in its host It would resist common medications but be killed with antiparasitic drugs Finding such a hero worm has not been easy but a few candidates have made it to the top of the list and proponents of the technique are quick to point to issues with the negative trials: the patients had severe symptoms and had failed to respond to any treatment and the measurements done to document improvement may not be accurate And when researchers try to condense our findings on the topic they will often compare a study done using one type of worm with a study done using an entirely different species the online database of clinical research studies and did not find any registered trial of worm therapy currently enrolling participants people are turning to support groups to hack their immune system back to health Many of them felt that conventional treatments had failed them The information they found was all over the place “its results are unequivocal and stunning: helminthic therapy will slow or arrest the course of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in everyone who tries it.” I’m not sure that a single drug could be accurately framed in this way desperate patients pay large sums of money to buy helminths online often withholding the information from their doctor who are terrified of becoming infected as a result There are no standard protocols: many of these worms die inside the body and a new dose has to be taken These questions have not been answered by researchers so self-experimenters rely on shared anecdotes on Internet forums remember that these flat helminths can burrow through your gut and infect other organs As for the overall safety of swallowing more benign parasites to cure yourself of an immune-related illness so the porcine whipworm can’t infect us beyond simply living inside us for a little bit of time and catching the eye of our immune system worms can cause internal tissue damage when they migrate from one organ to another and they can carry bacteria and the toxins they produce if they are not tested for those before use Human trials typically report good tolerance and no excess of side effects compared to placebo arms but the studies are too short and too scarce to be completely reassuring It’s hard to predict which immune-related disease will be shown to benefit from helminthic therapy It’s not unusual for a potential therapeutic avenue to lead to a dead end or to a single proven application any effective use will depend on demonstrating which species works But the problem with these worms is that they may be too crude which is why scientists are trying to turn them into more manageable biopharmaceuticals which is secreted by the rodent-infecting worm Acanthocheilonema viteae these companies are unwilling to invest in therapeutic worms since isolating them from the gut of animals risks bacterial contamination and since prospective customers are generally turned off at the idea of swallowing worm eggs But if a molecular extract could be patented and delivered in pill form Parasitic worms can harm us but they have been with us as our immune system evolved Maybe we’ll find a safe way to recouple them to our immunity with proven benefits They might just wiggle out of the world of self-experiments and worm their way into modern medicine @jonathanjarry.bsky.social Metrics details contributing limited palaeontological information to deciphering their early evolution Here we describe an acanthocephalan body fossil from the Middle Jurassic Daohugou biota of China Juracanthocephalus shows unambiguous acanthocephalan characteristics as well as a jaw apparatus with discrete elements that is typical of other gnathiferans Juracanthocephalus shares features with Seisonidea (an epizoic member of Rotifera) and Acanthocephala bridging the evolutionary gap between jawed rotifers and the obligate parasitic Our results reveal previously unrecognized ecological and morphological diversity in ancient Acanthocephala and highlight the significance of transitional fossils revealing the origins of this highly enigmatic group of living organisms Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout The phylogenetic datasets and the commands necessary for executing the MrBayes, PAUP and TNT analyses are included as NEXUS and TNT formatted files in Supplementary Data 1–3 Ecology of the Acanthocephala (Cambridge Univ The origins and evolution of the Acanthocephala Epidermal ultrastructure of Seison nebaliae and Seison annulatus and a comparison of epidermal structures within the Gnathifera Molecular evidence for Acanthocephala as a subtaxon of Rotifera The syndermatan phylogeny and the evolution of acanthocephalan endoparasitism as inferred from 18S rDNA sequences A modern approach to rotiferan phylogeny: combining morphological and molecular data Transcriptome data reveal syndermatan relationships and suggest the evolution of endoparasitism in Acanthocephala via an epizoic stage Spiralian phylogeny informs the evolution of microscopic lineages Rotifera): mitochondrial gene order verifies epizoic Seisonidea as sister to endoparasitic Acanthocephala within monophyletic Hemirotifera First record of Acanthocephala parasites eggs in coprolites preliminary assigned to Crocodyliformes from the Adamantina Formation (Bauru Group The macro- and microfossil record of the Cambrian priapulid Current understanding of Ecdysozoa and its internal phylogenetic relationships A palaeoscolecid worm from the Burgess Shale High-resolution taphonomic and palaeoecological analyses of the Jurassic Yanliao Biota of the Daohugou area Palaeoscolecids from the Ludlow Series of Leintwardine Herefordshire (UK): the latest occurrence of palaeoscolecids in the fossil record Exceptional preservation of a marine tapeworm tentacle in Cretaceous amber Acanthocephalan parasites of the flounder species Paralichthys isosceles Paralichthys patagonicus and Xystreurys rasile from Brazil Careful amendment of morphological data sets improves phylogenetic frameworks: re-evaluating placement of the fossil Amiskwia sagittiformis in The Evolution and Fossil Record of Parasitism: Identification and Macroevolution of Parasites (eds De Baets W.) 273–313 (Springer International Publishing Zur Ultrastruktur und Phylogenie von Seison nebaliae Grube Hypothesen zu phylogenetischen Verwandtschaftsverhältnissen innerhalb der Bilateria (Georg-August-Univ. Whole-genome analyses converge to support the Hemirotifera hypothesis within Syndermata (Gnathifera) Phylogenetic relationships of phylum Rotifera with emphasis on the families of Bdelloidea Genomics and transcriptomics of epizoic Seisonidea (Rotifera Syndermata) reveal strain formation and gradual gene loss with growing ties to the host Nuclear genome annotation of wheel animals and thorny-headed worms: inferences about the last common ancestor of Syndermata (Rotifera s.l.) Spermiogenesis in Seison nebaliae (Rotifera Seisonidea): further evidence of a rotifer-acanthocephalan relationship Platyzoan paraphyly based on phylogenomic data supports a noncoelomate ancestry of Spiralia Are lemnisci and proboscis present in the Bdelloidea On the evolution and morphology of the rotiferan trophi Death is on our side: paleontological data drastically modify phylogenetic hypotheses W.) 231–271 (Springer International Publishing Molecular phylogeny of the Acanthocephala (class Palaeacanthocephala) with a paraphyletic assemblage of the orders Polymorphida and Echinorhynchida Bilateral jaw elements in Amiskwia sagittiformis bridge the morphological gap between gnathiferans and chaetognaths The vertebrates of the Jurassic Daohugou Biota of northeastern China in Evolutionary Developmental Biology of Invertebrates 2: Lophotrochozoa (Spiralia) (ed Volume 1: Protozoan and Metazoan Infections (ed The life cycle of Sclerocollum saudii Al-Jahdali 2010 (Acanthocephala: Palaeacanthocephala: Rhadinorhynchidae) in amphipod and fish hosts from the Red Sea Host-specific infestation in early Cambrian worms First glimpse of the silicified hot spring biota from a new Jurassic chert deposit in the Deseado Massif Acarine and other microfossils from the Maslin Eocene Bdelloid rotifers in Dominican amber: evidence for parthenogenetic continuity Fossil habrotrochid rotifers in Dominican amber Phylogenetic relationships of the Acanthocephala inferred from 18S ribosomal DNA sequences Phylogenetic tree building in the genomic age MRBAYES: Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees A likelihood approach to estimating phylogeny from discrete morphological character data [Phylogenetic analysis using parsimony (and other methods)] v.4 (Sinauer Associates with a graphical interface for MacOS and Linux Download references Zheng for helpful discussions and comments Fang for the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses and D This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos 42125201 and 42293280) and the Jiangsu Innovation Support Plan for International Science and Technology Cooperation Programme (BZ2023068) This paper is a contribution to the IUGS “Deep-time Digital Earth” Big Science Program is supported by a NERC independent research fellowship (NE/W007878/1) State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum conducted the SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses wrote the original draft with review and editing from B.E.B. All authors carried out the morphological analysis discussed the results and approved the final manuscript The authors declare no competing interests reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Backscatter scanning electron (BSE) image under a scanning electronic microscope Elemental maps of b from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Elemental maps from energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy Higher magnification of mouth opening area (in alcohol) a, Majority-rule consensus tree including J. daohugouensis from Bayesian inference analysis (Methods). b, Majority-rule consensus tree excluding J. daohugouensis from Bayesian inference analysis (Methods) Node labels show posterior probability values The strict consensus tree fails to resolve the relationship between Seisonidea Rotifera and Acanthophala when Juracanthocephalus is excluded a, 50% majority rule bootstrap consensus tree including J. daohugouensis from PAUP parsimony analysis (Methods). b, 50% majority rule bootstrap consensus tree excluding J. daohugouensis from PAUP parsimony analysis (Methods) Apomorphies are optimized computationally unless followed by an asterisk which denotes an apomorphy suggested by our results but lacking sufficient sampling to optimise computationally The apomorphic losses of Acanthocephala are also added The topology is derived from the strict consensus tree based on a matrix of 68 taxa and 247 characters; the non-gnathiferans were omitted for clarity but were included in the analyses in which synapomorphies were optimised; the precise systematic position of Gnathostomulida has not been recovered in the strict consensus tree but it is widely considered as the sister group of other gnathiferans Yellow rectangles represent characters associated with jaw apparatus green rectangles represent characters associated with gut (including mouth and anus) red rectangles represent characters associated with body shape and grey rectangles represent characters associated with other body structures a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08830-5 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment University of Bristol provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK View all partners The comedian Shappi Khorsandi once commented that she used the mythical concept of “sugar worms” to get her children to brush their teeth after sweets It’s a trick I poached to convince my daughter to do the same but now luckily manages to navigate her way around a toothbrush twice a day without resistance Real worms have now replaced fictitious worms as a point of discussion in many other households with young children. Every few weeks, nurseries and schools inform parents of yet another occurrence of threadworm It’s not surprising that these wriggly beasties keep rearing their heads considering how easily transmissible they are Threadworm infestation is a common minor ailment The worm species that causes it – Enterobius vermicularis – goes by many other names This is because it really is as thin and pointy as a pin possibly because the body parts it most commonly affects are those which you sit on The circle of life for a threadworm is simple Their larvae come from ingested eggs that then hatch in the small intestine They typically form a colony within the first part of the large intestine (the caecum) But their most noticeable effect appears to be on the back passage This results in the common symptoms of a very itchy bottom The itching naturally makes the sufferer scratch installing the newly laid eggs under their fingernails and allowing them to spread to other hosts through contact It can affect anyone – both adults and children It’s possible to spot threadworms in the stool after a bowel movement. They can make themselves known in several other ways, including nighttime irritability and bed wetting. Because the worms prefer living in the intestine, in rare conditions they may cause abdominal pain and mimic appendicitis in some cases the appendix is removed and found to be chock-full of wriggling worms The condition is usually mild and can be treated at home. Mebendazole can be bought over the counter at most pharmacies and is normally effective It’s recommended to treat everyone in the household over the age of two in case they have already spread – remembering that sometimes there are no symptoms to be noted at all But it’s important to speak to a doctor for children younger than two years old and pregnant or breastfeeding women with threadworm Hygiene measures are important to help clear the infection and prevent the spread especially in those who can’t take medication laundry and avoiding scratching the affected areas to prevent the eggs from getting caught under them Threadworms aren’t the only worms (helminths) that invade humans. Hookworms, for example, affect about 470 million people worldwide Like threadworm, they also tend to take up residence in the small intestine – though they can also get there in a much more complicated way The larvae of hookworms are able to pass through the skin and travel to the lungs in the bloodstream they journey upwards into the throat where they can then be swallowed down Since the respiratory tract and gut are the favourite places for these worms to bunk down, the symptoms of a hookworm infection tend to be associated with them – such as coughing and wheezing triggered by the infestation can generate abdominal pain and diarrhoea It can also hamper the absorption of proteins and iron from the gut A characteristic rash might be noted in the stage where the larvae start to burrow through the skin – looking a bit like a snake writhing through it. In the medical profession, we call this cutaneous larva migrans hookworm can also be treated with oral medications Worms don’t just invade the gut or lungs. Some of them work their way into other regions of the body. Take lymphatic filariasis a condition that arises when certain worms of the Filariidae order The lymph vessels act as drainage pipes, removing excess fluid from the tissues and returning it to the bloodstream. When the worms invade and inflame the lymphatic system, the result is lymphoedema – an accumulation of fluid in the extremities (like the legs) In extreme cases, the swelling can be profound, resulting in a condition known as elephantiasis This is because the worm infestation causes not just swelling but also skin changes – making it thicker and tougher and taking on the appearance of elephant skin These are just a few of the helminth conditions that can affect humans. Other examples include tapeworms and whipworms – which are also intestinal. Ringworm is a misnomer though and not a worm at all – it’s actually caused by a fungal infection You will also start receiving the Star's free morning newsletter Jane McMichael on a stop on the TranzAlpine Train trip with Castle Hill limestone rock formations (Kura Tawhiti) And I spend a day on a zip line in Kaikoura enjoying the magnificent view of the Pacific We asked Star readers to tell us about trips they have taken and to share their experience and advice: I am drawn to places where the people really value nature and the environment and are motivated and driven to protect it I also knew the photographic opportunities would be great I’d wanted to go for the longest time and had been saving then a sudden health scare put my life in perspective Black Labyrinth water rafting in Ruakuri Cave The cave is nature’s architectural masterpiece every bend and dip different from the last and filled with limestone sculptures and stalactites leading through to deep canyons where we float on our inner tubes The most wondrous part is when everyone turns off their torches I could have stayed looking at them for hours And I am quite proud that I actually did jump backwards off the waterfall The jaunt finished with a warming mochaccino afterwards Our journey began with a scenic drive along the coast before we switched vehicles to ford a river varying from 250 metres to 620 metres in length The excitement you feel as you take that first small jump off the platform is unbelievable The day was spent soaring over the tree canopy always with the magnificent view of the Pacific Our guides through the native forest were two young women The truth is I almost backed out of this adventure twice but the owner was so reassuring and accommodating After I returned from a long day of hiking and thoroughly enjoying the TranzAlpine Train journey recommended Fiddlesticks Restaurant and Bar in Christchurch I loved all the choices that I made: crispy chicken with nuoc cham chay sauce — so fresh and full of flavour; golden french fries filled with the most delicious yellow potato and Kewpie dip; and honey-roasted carrots that melted in your mouth All enjoyed in a lovely atmosphere directly across from the impressive art gallery What was the most memorable thing you learned about the destination Everywhere the atmosphere is so easygoing and unrushed I encountered so many people who had similar stories of extraordinary acts of kindness The weather was sunny every day and in the 30s and there were no queues for anything and small groups only on all the adventures I went on There were not a lot of cars on the road and the beaches only had a few people We’ve launched a series that invites Star readers to share places they’ve visited recently and would recommend Email us with “TRAVEL TIPS” in the subject line at travel@thestar.ca Please include brief responses to these questions Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: Account processing issue - the email address may already exist Invalid password or account does not exist Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account about halfway between Hawaii and American Samoa President Trump on Thursday said he was allowing commercial fishing in one of the world’s largest ocean reserves introducing industrial operations for the first time in more than a decade to a vast area of the Pacific dotted with coral atolls and populated by endangered sea turtles and whales Fish and Wildlife Service via The New York Times) — NO SALES; FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY — A nautical Pandora’s box has been flung agape President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will lift commercial fishing restrictions within the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument Hard-won protections across the 490,000 square miles of open ocean will be largely repealed allowing longline fleets to harvest an array of aquatic life thriving beneath the surface Fishing industry advocates have for years fought to gain access to the monument A subsequent expansion and fishing ban implemented by President Barack Obama in 2014 was salt on the wound Fishermen argue that denying entry into those fertile waters — made even more bountiful thanks to over 15 years of shelter — is crimping an economy that could be booming executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council who was at the Oval Office signing told Trump it is in Hawaii’s interest to enable the state’s longline fleet of 150 vessels to harvest tuna and swordfish at the new fishing grounds Despite repeated requests from the Star-Advertiser on this important topic (function(d,s,n){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];js=d.createElement(s);js.className=n;js.src="//player.ex.co/player/bdc806f4-0fc1-40a1-aff0-a3d5239c169c";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document,"script","exco-player")); Not shy about discussing potential upside was Eric Kingma executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association who said the industry supports 10,000 jobs with an economic impact of up to $900 million a year But “dockside values” are suffering Kingma also notes 70% to 80% of longline catch stays in Hawaii where residents are particularly partial to sashimi-grade fish So lifting the ban will be good for business The Trump administration wants to leverage America’s abundant ocean resources to become a “dominant seafood leader,” but supply is exactly what is at risk with relaxed restrictions are in place to check overzealous industry but those guardrails might not be sufficient when dealing with difficult-to-monitor migratory fish as Trump this month proposed a rule change to reinterpret “harm,” as prohibited by the act to mean the direct killing or collecting of a specific animal or plant Hawaii and Pacific island director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity which greatly outnumber U.S.-flagged vessels might encroach and potentially overrun monument fisheries where stock species populations can replenish According to a 2022 report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Asia in 2020 boasted about 2.7 million fishing vessels — about two-thirds of the global total despite working for nearly a decade to scale down its world’s-largest fleet Should foreign fishermen begin to move in on the fringes Sea life resources have been kept in careful balance through the very mechanisms now due for destruction And though the order mentions “ethical sourcing,” few provisions for follow-through are delineated the administration appears to be thumbing its nose at scientists It is unclear when the Pacific monument’s moratorium lifts Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has 180 days to review all marine national monuments and deliver findings on whether they fears are that the 583,000-square-mile Papahanau­mokuakea Marine National Monument — a World Heritage site that holds deep cultural significance to Native Hawaiians and boasts the largest contiguous protected conservation area under U.S Serious question: Is there a single member of the State House of Representatives who would.. public outrage over the Navy’s contamination of a major aquifer spewed.. A homeschool reporting requirement is welcome but it would resolve just one flaw in an in.. Worms in strawberries are unappetizing but harmless and there are ways to detect and avoid them Chilling strawberries immediately after harvest at 32°F will slow or stop the development of larvae Keep that carton of berries in your fridge And the next time you go strawberry picking If you want to remove bugs from strawberries a saltwater soak is more effective than vinegar Soaking in vinegar is used to help prevent mold and keep berries fresh longer Skip the produce washes or other disinfectants as they may not be safe running water and rinse the fruit for at least 10 seconds berries with worms are safe to eat so you don't need to go out of your way to soak the berries in salt water before eating Spotted Wing Drosophila (SWD) Turner T. Chow Line: A tiny worm in your strawberry won’t hurt you A 30-year-old woman in the United States was told by doctors she had parasites in her brain after presenting to the hospital with a burning sensation in her feet The worms seem to have been unlucky souvenirs the woman unknowingly picked up while traveling in Thailand Embedded in her central nervous system, the quiet invaders didn't 'make a peep' until 12 days after the woman had returned home. Only then did their presence cause an intense immune response that took a further week to diagnose hot pain in the woman's feet crawled up her legs before erupting in a splitting headache that even frequent doses of pain relief medication couldn't alleviate An initial visit to the emergency department turned up only a mild increase in disease-fighting white blood cells. But after days of unrelenting discomfort and a mild fever the woman returned to a different hospital looking for answers Following treatment with intravenous anti-inflammatories and an anti-anxiety medication called lorazepam her headache finally abated and she was discharged she began to pack for a vacation that she had not planned Her roommate noticed her strange behavior and encouraged her to lie back down in bed when the woman was still showing signs of confusion "The development of confusion in this patient with sensory symptoms, headache, and possible intermittent fever suggests the possibility of encephalitis and further increases concern about a central nervous system infection," explains infectious disease specialist Joseph Zunt from the University of Washington Testing her blood, her doctors found no sign of parasites, and a CT scan of her head showed no red flags beneath her skull. Yet when medical staff performed a lumbar puncture, they found the patient's cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which bathes the brain and spinal cord, contained markers of eosinophilic meningitis – a rare form of brain infection that can be caused by parasites Based on the patient's recent travel and her symptoms her doctors agreed she met the criteria for a presumptive diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis This insidious disease is also known as rat lungworm because it is caused by the parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis which starts its life cycle in the lungs of a rodent before spreading to slugs and snails Most people aren't eating uncooked slugs or snails, but if we bite into a fresh, leafy vegetable that one of these creatures has slimed, the parasite's larvae can end up in our bodies without us knowing it That's one of the reasons why washing green produce is so important when staying in parts of the world where rat lungworm spreads Undercooked crab or prawns can also be a vector they can migrate to the pulmonary arteries swimming into the central nervous system and threatening the life of the host Only occasionally are the larvae able to be seen in the brain for a definitive diagnosis. Usually, brain scans only hint at damage from these parasites shows clear signals of lesions in parts of a 32-year-old's brain that are indicative of angiostrongyliasis the woman in the US had her brain saved from parasites by a two-week course of drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier to treat angiostrongyliasis The patient was also given a high dose of a steroid called prednisone to help alleviate inflammation in her brain Her symptoms abated with the combination treatment she was able to go home – this time without hidden passengers in her brain The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine Editor's note: This post originally published on May 9 and has been updated got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died." They were spoken by a U.S. presidential candidate and President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to run the Department of Health and Human Services. According to a 2012 deposition, uncovered and reviewed by The New York Times in May said he sought medical attention after experiencing mental fogginess and memory loss a doctor helped him determine a brain abnormality found on a scan was caused by a worm He now tells The Times he has recovered with no long lasting consequences The story has created a lot of buzz in the world of politics. But it's not just a story about one politician's health history. The World Health Organization estimates over a billion people are infected with parasitic worms The implications are often serious and lifelong NPR spoke with Francisca Mutapi a professor of global health infection and immunity at the University of Edinburgh who has studied parasites for 25 years She shared her insights on what might have happened to RFK Jr — and the toll that parasitic worms take around the world The conversation was edited for length and clarity What we know about his particular case is vague Do you have an instinct about what this worm might have been and how he might have been infected with it So I have absolutely no idea about his case it might have been a particular infection known as Taeniasis And Taeniasis is an infection you get from a tropical parasitic worm — the easy name is tapeworms [which can be carried by pigs] What happens is when you're infected with a tapeworm you ingest the eggs and those eggs will go on to hatch depending on what tissues in the body they end in Where might these larvae travel in the body and what harm can they bring they can cause blurred vision and blindness But if they end up in any part of your central nervous system – your spine or brain – then they cause a form of disease that's called neurocysticercosis And this particular form of the disease will range depending on your immune system and your health status and where exactly those larvae have ended up. It can cause headaches and seizures. For example, the disease is the leading preventable cause of epilepsy worldwide And some people have problems with balancing problems Excess fluid in the brain can actually make this a very dangerous condition What tends to happen is that you are exposed to the parasites when traveling to areas where this disease is widespread. So Asia, for example, South America and in some parts of Africa. In the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention you have about 1,000 new cases hospitalized with cysticercosis every year these diseases are preventable with things like good food hygiene — making sure pork is well-cooked — good hand-washing and good sanitation then it is treatable and the drugs work very well Two widely used drugs that kill the larval stages are praziquantel and albendazole They are usually good for doing two things: They can reduce or kill the parasites and they can also reverse some of the pathological manifestations of the disease Tell us more broadly about the global burden of parasites and particularly worms Diseases caused by parasitic worms are mostly part of a group of diseases called neglected tropical diseases and about 1.7 billion people are affected by NTDs we have over 200 million people who are affected by bilharzia a disease caused by parasitic worms [that can trigger a series of health problems from anemia to blood in your urine to cognitive issues] If you take all the children in the world that have bilharzia and get them to hold hands they would encircle the world one and a half times That is the burden of just one of the 21 neglected tropical diseases While we have few deaths [from diseases caused by parasitic worms] what we do have is a huge impact on day-to-day general health and ability to function So can you talk about the consequences of cysticercosis – or other parasitic worms You cannot hold down a job easily or long-term if you're having epileptic seizures If [the worm goes to your eye and] impacts your vision that affects the jobs you are able to do and your safety So that the quality of life becomes really reduced Similarly bilharzia in my mother tongue — Shona from Zimbabwe — is called the disease of cognitive function Some of the classic symptoms are children who are tired One of the big improvements that we see whenever we treat children and we catch the disease early is that the academic performance goes up as well as their physical activity What is being done to combat this globally – and is it enough We have what we call preventative chemotherapy which is treatment of populations at risk of disease — you give them the drugs and they catch the infection before it causes the serious disease manifestations These drugs are mostly donated by international pharmaceutical companies We now need to accelerate these efforts so we can try and eliminate these kinds of diseases as quickly as possible But we can do that by also being more innovative in our interventions RFK Jr.'s spokesperson has said he contracted the parasite by traveling to places in Africa and Asia in his role as "an environmental advocate." Is there anything people can do to protect themselves in these parts of the world you can improve the hygiene so that people do not make contact with the fecal matter or the urine of pigs it does offer an opportunity to talk about the global problem of parasitic worms Become an NPR sponsor For the next few weeks we’re asking readers to nominate their invertebrate of the year: click here to give us your suggestions Does a worm feel pain if it gets trodden on Does a fly ache when its wings are pulled off Is an ant happy when it finds a food source Invertebrate sentience is becoming an ever livelier topic of debate and with new science we are getting new insights But Dr Andrew Crump at the Royal Veterinary College who helped ensure that new UK laws recognising animal sentience were amended to include large cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans – octopuses crabs to you and me – says this is not at all straightforward Nervous systems are hugely complex, and identifying consciousness and sentience – and not just automatic pain reflexes – is hard. Are responses or reactions you see from an animal – be it a wolf or a wolf ant – feelings or just automatic reflexes? Crump and his colleagues found that bees They were found to learn colour cues for their decisions on feeding – choosing painful overheated sugars they previously avoided when non-heated options had a low sugar concentration So they made trade-offs by processing in the brain then modifying their behaviour new research has shown that many responses in the larger invertebrates were complex and pretty consistent with criteria for pain that had been produced initially for vertebrates such as rats can perform amazing feats of learning to avoid painful environments and choose painkilling environments All this establishes and quantifies “feelings” in beings that are very different from us The work of Crump and other scientists meant that the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 recognised for the first time in UK law (vertebrate sentience was previously covered by EU regulation) that certain invertebrates can “feel” requiring modifications to their treatment in areas such as farming and research But what does this mean for the many trillions of smaller invertebrates A new paper in the journal Science describes how these markers have been found in insects indicating that there could be conscious experiences And it is not just about pain – researchers are also attempting to develop such markers for joy new laws would lead to genuine improvements in farmed invertebrate welfare in the UK and abroad and should ensure animal sentience is accounted for throughout policy and decision making we could use the precautionary principle: we could assume it is possible that invertebrates have feelings however differently they may be crafted by the millions of years of evolution they went through before we arrived Free weekly newsletterThe planet's most important stories Get all the week's environment news - the good you are a human being.” Just replace the word “people’s” with “beings’” so it is all others’ pain that we have the highest welfare approaches in rearing and slaughter for these fantastic animals Vicki Hird is the author of Rebugging the Planet our whole group is gathered in the basement of a bar that’s too bright on a street that we’ve never seen in the daylight and we’re all a little drunk on Moscow Mules that cost us 95 kroner apiece since we don’t know yet that 95 kroner is way too much to pay for a drink She’s got a dart pinched between her fingers and she’s squinting at the dartboard across the room and we’re getting looks from the 50-somethings sitting around us because what are a bunch of Americans doing here on a Sunday night and she’s beaming a smile I’ll soon become familiar with even though right now I barely know her name spill out from the speakers in the corner of the room I’m in the prime of my life!” “Time to Pretend” by MGMT And as the song starts to reverberate through me I can imagine what it’ll be like to remember this “Time to Pretend” overlaid upon hazy memories of a bar that I never went back to and people I never spoke to again I first discovered the synth-pop duo MGMT—specifically their song “Kids”—when I was a freshman in high school “Kids,” which begins with a countdown shouted through the din of screaming children before the thumping synth kicks in is MGMT’s nostalgic reflection on the innocence and glory of youth as they prepare for college graduation and face a world filled with exploitation and degradation “Time to Pretend” is the pair’s mediation on how stardom might transform their lives and take them away from all of the simple joys and comforts of youth instead presenting them with the gritty loss of innocence that comes with maturity and fame Both of these songs come from their debut studio album which was released in 2007 and performed by MGMT at Brown’s Spring Weekend in 2010 I was immediately struck with the sickening sense of loss that I felt when thinking about the past an all-too-familiar longing for the simple moments that used to feel big crawling on your knees toward it”—filled me with something like grief I feel as though I can’t be trusted with memory There are trash bags and cabinets in my childhood bedroom stuffed with shrapnel from people I don’t know anymore: a strip of shiny magenta tinsel a pair of sparkly green earrings thrifted in Twentynine Palms There are boxes in my closet with lids that won’t close bursting with birthday cards from old friends that I haven’t talked to since I was 14 My walls are covered with pieces of the past: my ticket to see Love my ticket from the first time I visited my best friend in San Diego my ticket for a boygenius merch raffle at a listening party for the record (which I didn’t win) Countless scraps of memory for me to pick up and hold and ache over and long for and want back even when the reality of it all was much less rosy than the feeling of missing it nostalgia has always felt a lot like self-sabotage: I crave the nauseous pain of it.  cross-legged in the middle of the darkening street The humidity is so thick that the pavement smells sweet We’re talking about the usual things: the boys we’re talking to The same things everyone talks about when you’re 16ish The street is warm and rough under my palms a hot gust of wind breathes through the trees and huge droplets of rain splatter against our bare arms and pool into the soles of our sneakers And as I’m running against the torrent of rain next to the three of them I’m swiping through the droplets beading across the screen of my phone and now I’ve got “Time to Pretend” crackling through the waterlogged speakers and my shoes slip against the rain-slick road I can imagine what it’ll be like to remember it “Time to Pretend” overlaid upon hazy memories of the street Mady doesn’t live on anymore and a group of friends that splintered I reread old journal entries till I know them by heart and my voicemail is perpetually full of messages I can’t bear to delete revisit each scrap of memory until I feel an ephemeral gasp of the specific way that October or that August felt I hate how much it hurts to remember even the things that were so good.  When I listen to “Kids” and “Time to Pretend,” I wonder how MGMT could so perfectly capture the way memory feels: persistent and beating “I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and diggin’ up worms / I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world / I’ll miss my sister I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.” To MGMT viscous and intangible like syrup slipping through the prongs of a fork like lookin’ through a fogged mirror / Decisions to decisions are made and not bought / But I thought this wouldn’t hurt a lot But then I think back on all of the moments that MGMT has soundtracked my life over the past seven years and fleeting: sitting on a picnic bench and turning my face to the sun Watching the glittering skyline of the city come into view after takeoff Walking through campus as the magnolias started to bloom And it’s true—I miss all of these moments and feelings and experiences I miss the way their songs feel even when I’m still listening to them But it’s a different kind of missing—it’s a good ache It makes me remember to take the time to seek out everything worth missing To be present in the moments that I’ll look back on without anticipating how much it’ll hurt when they’re over This is a summary of: Luo, C. et al. A Jurassic acanthocephalan illuminates the origin of thorny-headed worms. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08830-5 (2025) doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01052-9 Download references Reprints and permissions author and TV presenter who traced continents through fossils A wetter ancient Arabia could have enabled easier intercontinental species dispersal A Jurassic acanthocephalan illuminates the origin of thorny-headed worms What if human blood were toxic to mosquitoes Genomic determinants of antigen expression hierarchy in African trypanosomes Plasmodium blood stage development requires the chromatin remodeller Snf2L Picuris Pueblo oral history and genomics reveal continuity in US Southwest Punic people were genetically diverse with almost no Levantine ancestors A pangenome reference of wild and cultivated rice POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW Post Summary of the role The Characterisation & Processing of Advanced Materials HT is an interdisciplinary research institute created and supported by the Italian government whose aim is to develop innovative strategies to pr.. UNIL is a leading international teaching and research institution with over 5,000 employees and 17,000 students split between its Dorigny campus Department of Energy and Environmental Materials and advance cancer research in a leading translational institute Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute Australia has a huge diversity of worms on land sand and sea such as the giant Gippsland earthworm which can stretch up to 3 metres if not for the loud gurgling noises that can be heard coming from underground as the species burrows and squelches through its moist clay a purple and pink colossus that lives in a small wet patch about 100km east of Melbourne in south-east Australia reportedly stretches as long as 2 to 3 metres These slow-moving and graceful giants, according to species specialist Dr Beverley Van Praagh, are quite unlike the “squiggly and squirmy” garden variety, which Guardian readers crowned UK invertebrate of the year in 2024. Even an average sized individual would eclipse the UK’s largest recorded specimen, a 40cm-long lob worm named Dave found in a Cheshire vegetable patch Worm researchers such as Van Praagh say it is challenging to study an animal that lives underground The giant Gippsland earthworm Photograph: Alan Yen / Credit: Museums Victoria.She said the main way to detect them was to stomp about on the surface and listen out for the distinctive sound – like water draining from a bath – of a startled worm retracting deeper underground Sometimes researchers look for evidence of burrows the collection manager of terrestrial invertebrates at the Museums Victoria Research Institute where the worms laid a single egg that produced one large baby – about 20cm long – after a year you can actually see there’s one worm inside.” Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen $https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2025/02/28/Sound_of_a_Giant_Gippsland_earthworm_Credit_Dr_Beverley_Van_Praagh_Invert-Eco.mp3 00:00:0000:00:08Extreme care has to be taken when digging, as these are vulnerable creatures If you accidentally nick a giant worm it bleeds Anecdotal accounts describe “horrific” scenes of fields running “red with blood” when the worm’s habitat was first cleared and ploughed but as a long-lived species that produce few young and continue to be threatened by changes to the water table said Australia had a huge diversity of worms including many endemic species and several giants found on land found in sediments under shallow waters about 180km north of Sydney The species was named Eunice dharastii after the fisheries scientist Dr Dave Harasti who managed to entice the iridescent worm out of its underwater tube by dangling an offering of fish head over the burrow The sea worm Eunice dharastii Photograph: Dr Dave HarastiHutchings said another sea worm species found in the Kimberley region of northern Australia was long enough to be slung around her neck like a feather boa Hutchings said even though worms might be gathered together as one group of animals they were incredibly diverse in their forms “We’ve got this amazing biodiversity in Australia,” she said There just weren’t enough worm scientists yet to describe them The Guardian is asking readers to nominate species for the second annual invertebrate of the year competition. Read more about it and make your suggestions here or via the form below Most people who try to hitch a free flight hiding in a jet’s wheel-well die in the attempt, like the person whose body was discovered on Christmas Eve after a flight from Chicago landed on Maui But occasionally someone survives the extreme cold and oxygen deprivation of flying several hours at a high altitude outside the plane’s pressurized and warmed passenger cabin When skeptical reporters ask doctors how survival is even possible under such extreme conditions a combination of hypothermia and anoxia could trigger a state of suspended animation that keeps the stowaway alive long enough to survive the journey Such stories have long fascinated Mark Roth, PhD, a biochemist and cell biologist in the Basic Sciences Division of Fred Hutch Cancer Center A new study from a postbaccalaureate researcher in Roth’s lab shows that microscopic worms exposed to frigid temperatures (about 36 degrees Fahrenheit) can survive up to 48 hours if they’re also exposed to low oxygen The study, published late last month  in the journal Frontiers in Physiology identifies physiological responses that overlap in microscopic worms when they are exposed to extreme cold and low oxygen simultaneously Hypothermia shields the worms against the effects of anoxia and anoxia blunts the stress of hypothermia resulting in a higher survival rate for both lethal conditions than for either one alone The evolved synergy of those stress responses suggests that a similar phenomenon may be at work in humans who survive both extreme cold and oxygen deprivation The discovery is an early career success for Suraci who earned his Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Washington in 2023 but ran into a brick wall of graduate school rejections PhD programs have become increasingly competitive favoring applicants who already have extensive lab experience and even authorship on published scientific studies as undergraduates Suraci’s hunt for a research technician position led him to the Roth Lab a few weeks after graduation Roth has long explored how humans and other animals navigate the mercurial boundaries between life and death whether it’s by appearing dead during hibernation or surviving a flight in the wheel well of jet liked the potential they saw in Suraci and wanted him to get going quickly on understanding oxygen toxicity in the microscopic worm Caenorhabditis elegans Morrison advised him to put in some hours just watching C elegans wriggle around under a microscope so he would know how they act normally before exposing them to different temperatures and oxygen concentrations The worms undulate with a hypnotizing S pattern that propels them like a snake across sand “I had never done anything with worms,” Suraci said “One of the first things I did here was I spent a very long time just observing their behavior and then when I went to bed that night I closed my eyes and they were just like crawling across my field of vision My whole brain had been dedicated to figuring out how these things work.” Life needs oxygen and heat within a certain range for survival Suraci confirmed in one series of tests that exposure to pressurized room temperature air that is too rich in oxygen kills worms He also confirmed that low temperatures make that oxygen-rich air even more toxic he discovered that worms that had been previously acclimatized to cold temperatures showed some resistance to room-temperature hyperbaric oxygen (high concentrations of oxygen under pressure) He speculated that manipulating genes involved in a molecular pathway that helps the worms acclimatize to lower temperatures would achieve the same effect and found an overlap between pathways that enhance cold tolerance and the pathways that enhance tolerance to oxygen “It was pretty surprising how well these pieces matched up especially the fact that we were able to create sensitivity by getting rid of genes necessary to activate this stuff,” Suraci said “How would hyperbaric oxygen activate the cold acclimatization pathway?” The finding suggested that oxygen becomes more toxic the colder it gets and worms have evolved some mechanisms acclimatizing to colder temperatures that also fend off that toxicity “No one has really talked about oxygen toxicity being what kills you in the cold,” Suraci said “The fact that cold acclimatization is giving you protection against oxygen suggests that a big big part of it is that oxygen is becoming more toxic as you get colder.” More research is needed to understand the relationship between oxygen and temperature in humans and other animals Doctors already use cooling to prevent brain damage in oxygen-deprived infants but whether low oxygen also confers protection against the cold — or whether high oxygen is more toxic to humans in low temperatures — is less understood Suraci hopes the publication will strengthen his application for graduate school this year This research was supported by grants from the Army Research Office John Higgins, a staff writer at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, was an education reporter at The Seattle Times and the Akron Beacon Journal. He was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT, where he studied the emerging science of teaching. Reach him at jhiggin2@fredhutch.org or @jhigginswriter.bsky.social Are you interested in reprinting or republishing this story We want to help connect people with the information they need We just ask that you link back to the original article preserve the author’s byline and refrain from making edits that alter the original context Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent organization that serves as UW Medicine's cancer program © 2025 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization 1100 Fairview Ave. N., P.O. Box 19024, Seattle, WA 98109-1024 206.667.5000Contact Us The development of maternal egg cells is pivotal for survival – but also precarious the DNA-containing chromosomes can easily be broken or lost Scientists have struggled to study these crucial cellular events in humans and other mammals you cannot see inside them,” said Francis McNally a professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Scientists usually have to study cells outside the body But McNally is taking a different approach He is eavesdropping on egg development as it unfolds inside the mother –  mother worms Caenorhabditis elegans is a tiny worm that lives in soil It is a millimeter long and as wide as several human hairs “It gives us a rare window into something we couldn’t otherwise see,” McNally said and film the entire process in 45 minutes” as an egg cell develops and is fertilized by a sperm McNally’s study of worms could improve our understanding of human reproduction and how fertility problems might be diagnosed elegans isn’t the place you would expect scientists to look for insights into human biology The cells that turn into sperm and eggs make up more than half its body “It’s basically a gut and two gonads,” McNally said.  But the little worm also shares some surprising affinities with us Its DNA holds more than 19,000 genes — only a few hundred shy of the lofty human genome Many of those genes are “homologs,” closely related to genes that humans use to guide cell division egg cell production and other critical facets of life McNally studies one of these critical events which happens as a maternal egg cell develops The cell starts with a quadruple set of DNA — four of each chromosome it has to line up those chromosomes and divide them in half discarding the ones that aren’t going to be kept The egg cell ends up with only one of each chromosome — in anticipation of the sperm cell that will arrive and deliver a complementary set.  it resembles a squid with its tentacles stretched out — their tips attached to one half of the chromosomes the tentacles shorten and the matching chromosomes are drawn apart.  assemble from thousands of tiny protein segments and attachment to chromosomes is choreographed by dozens of other proteins each too small to see under a microscope.  McNally is using worms to tease this process apart each with genes modified to make a particular protein that is attached to a jellyfish protein causing it to glow a specific color when exposed to ultraviolet light McNally puts the transparent worm under a microscope and records videos as the different proteins — marked by their red By knocking out one or a few genes at a time he can deduce the role of each protein.  Over the years, he has repeatedly examined a protein called katanin (named after the traditional Japanese sword, katana), which cuts the microtubule “tentacles.” In 2014, he found that katanin must constantly prune the tentacles — otherwise they grow haphazardly like the arms of a kraken the maternal cell has not yet finished meiosis It still has two of each chromosome and must separate those chromosome pairs and discard the unused set — all while the sperm DNA sits and waits inside the cell This early arrival of the sperm happens in most animals then some of sperm’s chromosomes could end up being discarded along with the extra female ones — dooming the offspring “There’s a lot that can go wrong,” McNally said In a paper published this July he found that katanin and two other proteins And in August, McNally reported another surprise finding People have speculated about what triggers the microtubule tentacles to assemble on cue But McNally found that microtubule growth is also driven by another Those protein segments assemble inside a small transparent sack That crowding actually triggers them to stick together and assemble on their own When McNally makes these discoveries in worms it gives other researchers a chance to see if the same things are happening in mammals “We are looking for things that people are not studying in humans and mice,” he said Not every discovery will provide new insights into human fertility But they all reveal the diversity of evolution for solving some of life’s hardest challenges “Some things that you find in worms will be exactly the same in humans Funding is provided by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the U.S Make a gift to the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences Give Biome College of Biological Sciences 202 Green Hall605 Hutchison Drive University of California, Davis Copyright © The Regents of the University of California Even a natural genius at plastic recycling like the yellow mealworm turns out to be ridiculously inadequate at coping with the amount of microplastics humans create By Susan Milius Insects rank high among humankind’s go-to creatures for strangeness: Think movie monster inspirations or extreme biophysics (SN: 11/7/22) So of course scientists have already started testing insect willingness and ability to eat A new experiment sprinkles a dose of reality on just how effective this strategy might be in preventing the planet from drowning in plastics. It would take 100 mealworms 138 days, or about 4.5 months, to eat just one disposable COVID-era face mask ecologist Michelle Tseng and colleagues calculate December 4 in Biology Letters.  We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday By subscribing, you agree to our Terms & Privacy Policy.  You must be 13 or older to sign up For full digital access, consider a $2.99 per month subscription When it comes to plastic, bits smaller than 5 millimeters are especially worrisome. Researchers have linked these microplastics to higher risks of heart attacks and strokes Earlier experiments showed that several species of insects could eat and degrade the stuff hungry beetle larvae called superworms (Zophobas atratus) and yellow mealworms (Tenebrio molitor) sold in pet stores as food for other animals polyurethane and three more kinds of plastic of the University of British Columbia in Vancouver wanted more realistic tests of insect plastic-eating Almost all earlier research used powdered plastic or a brick of it; her team instead turned to the iconic Some were made using classic polypropylene others the plant-based plastic polylactic acid The masks would give insects not just the basic polymer but real-world additives from the manufacturer The team melted the mask plastic and abused it into microbits “They started eating the face-mask granola pretty much right away,” Tseng says Eating plastic did not noticeably shorten the insects’ life span What ingesting all that microplastic does to their own edibility raises questions about fitting the insects into some sustainable food chain Would they now be suitable to feed chickens The bigger problem with saving the world from microplastics by deploying giant masses of hungry insect larvae is the pace Asia alone used 2 billion medical face masks per day — an unimaginable endless buffet even for the relentless nibblers.  A better way to use mealworms or other eaters of microplastics is for inspiration — exploring body chemistry and especially their inner microbial partners That could lead to useful waste-breakdown hacks the researchers say the bigger point is this: Use less plastic Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ S. Gicole et al. Partial consumption of medical face masks by a common beetle species She studied biology and English literature A levitating force sensor (shown) found no hints of a fifth force predicted by “chameleon” theories that aim to explain the dark energy that is causing the universe to expand at an increasing clip The Yangtze finless porpoise (shown) is critically endangered Ancient Chinese poems can help researchers trace its decline over time A pair of blue bulges puffs outward as a male Indian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus) calls Side puffs are just one of 20 patterns that male vocal sacs evolved for amplifying the calls of frogs and toads To build immunity to bites from venomous snakes like this water cobra Tim Friede injected himself with doses of venom over time Marine ecologist Alyssa Gehman surveys sunflower sea stars in Burke Channel on the Central Coast of British Columbia These sea stars seem to be more resilient to a deadly wasting disease than their counterparts in warmer waters Axolotls are common pets and used in research A member of New Mexico’s Picuris Pueblo Tribal Nation stands in front of a Round House used for rituals and meetings A DNA study initiated and directed by Picuris officials now supports their oral histories describing more than 1,000-year-old ancestral ties to ancient Chaco Canyon society A sebecid (foreground in this illustration) stands over its ground sloth prey millions of years ago near the northern shore of an ancient Hispaniola Other creatures from this long-gone Caribbean ecosystem found fossilized at the site include land snails (on the tree at left) side-necked turtles (lower right corner) and gharials (background A quarterly research voyage to study the Pacific Ocean coincided with the Palisades and Eaton fires in the Los Angeles area Samples gathered during the January trip will help scientists understand the natural disaster’s effects on the ocean Science News was founded in 1921 as an independent nonprofit source of accurate information on the latest news of science our mission remains the same: to empower people to evaluate the news and the world around them It is published by the Society for Science a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education (EIN 53-0196483) enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions An official website of the United States government Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( Lock Locked padlock icon ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website Share sensitive information only on official Distribution: In deep water near hydrothermal vents alongmid-ocean ridges in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Cold seeps such as those found in theGulf of America also serve as habitat.  Ecosystem: Biological communities near hydrothermal vents and cold seeps Taxonomy: Families Siboglinidae Class Polychaeta Tubeworms are fast-growing deep-water invertebrates that anchor themselves to underwater surfaces near hydrothermal vents and cold seeps tubeworms rely on a nutrient byproduct produced by the chemosynthetic bacteria that live in their bodies to survive Because deepwater habitats and the organisms that live there – including tubeworms – can potentially be impacted by unmitigated OCS activities BOEM must continue to better understand these ecosystems and their sensitivity to various impact producing factors and categorize deepwater benthic environments have significantly advanced BOEM’s knowledge of continental margin geology Tubeworms are elongated deep-sea invertebrates that anchor themselves to underwater surfaces near nutrient-rich environments such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps which hardens to form a protective tube around their bodies – similar to an insect’s exoskeleton These worms can sometimes grow over 8 feet in length; as they grow Tubeworms lack a digestive system and rely on symbiotic bacteria housed in an organ – called a trophosome – within their bodies for nourishment oxidizing hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbons to produce energy This process creates organic compounds that the tubeworms consume as food Tubeworms are primarily found in deep-sea environments near hydrothermal vents and other areas containing the ingredients for the chemosynthetic process cold seeps in the Gulf release methane and other hydrocarbons that support tubeworm populations an underwater volcanic ridge off the coast of Washington and Oregon contains hydrothermal vent systems where tubeworms thrive where many hydrocarbon cold seeps are located ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 meters (about 6,500 to 10,000 feet) Both hot and cold temperatures can be found at these depths Some species live near hydrothermal vents along mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates are spreading apart with temperatures exceeding over 300°C (572°F) Others inhabit cold seep environments where hydrocarbons leak from the ocean floor both environments are subject to extremely high pressure making them inhospitable for most sea creatures Being well-adapted to the hot and cold extremes and relying on the nutrients their symbiotic bacteria produce for energy allow tubeworms to thrive in both habitats The bacteria in the tubeworm’s trophosome oxidize various chemicals found in hydrothermal vents and cold seeps to generate energy The byproducts of this chemosynthetic process are sugars and other nutrients which the tubeworm absorbs directly from the bacteria Tubeworms spend most of their lives anchored in one spot near the specialized environments that provides the necessary chemical resources for survival They reproduce through external fertilization Fertilization occurs in the water column; once fertilized the eggs develop into free-swimming larvae These larvae eventually settle on a suitable surface and grow into adult worms Tubeworms also lack complex nervous systems and do not exhibit any behavior that could be considered communication they are highly sensitive to changes in temperature and pressure in their extreme deep-sea habitats and will withdraw into their protective tubes to avoid predators and unfavorable water conditions Tubeworms have not been designated with a conservation status But their deep-sea habitats may be indirectly affected by human activities such as deep-sea mining Hydrothermal vent ecosystems in which tubeworms live are unique and diverse and are part of a number of marine protected areas Tubeworms are capable of remarkable growth rates and are some of the fastest-growing marine invertebrates In nutrient-rich environments such as hydrothermal vents some species of tubeworms have been observed to grow up to 33 inches per year Deepwater Atlantic Habitats II: Continued Atlantic Research and Exploration in Deepwater Ecosystems with Focus on Coral, Canyon, and Seep Communities (Deep SEARCH)Through its mapping and exploration activities the Deep SEARCH study yielded the first known observation of vestimentiferan (giant) tubeworms in the Southeast Atlantic Comparison of Environmental Effects from Different Offshore Wind Turbine FoundationsThis study examines the potential effects offshore wind foundations can have on marine ecosystems including changes to deepwater habitats and associated ecological communities where tubeworms are found Facilitating Interagency Partnerships in Support of Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and CharacterizationBOEM continues to study the distribution and sensitivity of deepwater seafloor habitats (i.e. hydrothermal vents) and their associated benthic communities in support of the interagency National Strategy for Mapping This story is part of the “Unleashing the Science” series showcasing how bureaus within the Department of the Interior produce and apply science to ensure responsible management decisions for our planet now and for the future The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages development of U.S and geological resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way An official website of the U.S. Department of the Interior Visit USA.gov Nebraska’s difference is an all-star all-volunteer team that dedicated itself to being ready for any biocontainment crisis at any time The Global Center is led by experts in biopreparedness and high-consequence infections research Our scholars are leading advancements in global health security Our affiliates are innovative experts collaborating to advance global health security the Center for Sustainment of Trauma Readiness Skills- Omaha is a collaboration between UNMC and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s School of Aerospace Medicine C-STARS Omaha works closely with UNMC’s Global Center for Health Security and the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit to take advantage of the medical center’s capabilities and expertise in biopreparedness training and research Our team consists of a variety of professionals providing support and project management to further the Global Center for Health Security’s mission The Global Center for Health Security is the premier U.S institution for management of high-consequence infections our clinical capabilities include biological Our expertise is now sought worldwide and officially sanctioned by the U.S The GCHS is the home base to the national Training and Quarantine Center and the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit The GCHS has laser-focused existing work by our leading scientists in fields like chemical weapons The GCHS tackles the most pressing problems in emerging infectious diseases through international partnerships and innovation Learn about the GCHS’ 4 core capabilities: Emerging Pathogens Lab The GCHS works with multiple core programs to enhance our capabilities to respond effectively to public health challenges The GCHS partners with many outside organizations to strengthen our commitment to addressing global health challenges through research and innovation Learn more about the impactful programs led by GCHS leadership Explore GCHS academic programs which include the Health Security Fellowship and the Biological Defense and Health Security program diseases and outbreaks from around the world Stay updated on the most recent information on worldwide global health and emerging pathogens outbreaks Biweekly overviews of new data and developments presented by James V FIDSA can now be found on the Health Emergencies page Learn more about the current worldwide outbreak of HPAI H5N1- Avian Influenza and explore resources Explore this page for comprehensive resources and situational updates on the ongoing Marburg Virus Disease outbreak The Global Center for Health Security is currently monitoring the spread of mpox The GCHS is currently monitoring measles cases Find scheduled and past events involving the Global Center for Health Security Find annual reports for our center and several of our programs ARS Technica Doctors in China inadvertently took time-series images of parasitic worms actively invading a woman’s brain and causing rare and rapidly progressing lesions The previously healthy 60-year-old woman went to the hospital after having a fever and altered mental status for three days, according to a report of her case published Monday in JAMA Neurology Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed white matter lesions around her lateral ventricles large cavities in the center of the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid that and the fluid-filled lateral ventricles appear as dark Doctors could see white blotches and smears around those dark spaces After doing a spinal tap and running tests on her cerebral spinal fluid they suspected she might have a bacterial infection in her brain So they treated her with an antibiotic and a fever reducer and website in this browser for the next time I comment Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" 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Learn how your comment data is processed. 986161 Nebraska Medical CenterOmaha, NE 68198-6161402-836-9911 GCHS@unmc.edu © 2025 University of Nebraska Medical Center Working in the laboratory of Physics Professor Arshad Kudrolli candidate Sohum Kapadia conducts experiments detailing how California blackworms move through water-filled spaces of various shapes and strictures The research is expected to one day inform the development of “soft robots” that could worm their way through digestive tracts and other complex “terrains” within the human body “We are trying to understand how organisms and robots move through media which are not quite liquid or solid.” Soft robots might also assist with the diagnoses of illness the delivery of medicines and other treatments and the development of more efficient surgical techniques Observing the biolocomotion patterns of worms is central to Kudrolli’s research, which lies at the nexus of biology, physics, and technology. With a core of student researchers, “We are trying to understand how organisms and robots move through media which are not quite liquid or solid,” Kudrolli said when the experimentation began several years ago conditions are created to approximate sand and water entails the movements of worms through water to observe the creatures’ behavior when they are met with an obstruction to their forward progress such as a 90-degree corner in a square tank Kudrolli recently received a $330,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the development of soft robots that could one day revolutionize the ways that emerging technologies influence biomedical science Come study at a small research university with a strong liberal arts core Still curious? Request more information Website accessibilityNondiscrimination policy Scientists Make ‘Cyborg Worms’ with a Brain Guided by AI AI and tiny worms team up to get to treats By Matthew Hutson edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Scientists have given artificial intelligence a direct line into the nervous systems of millimeter-long worms, letting it guide the creatures to a tasty target—and demonstrating intriguing brain-AI collaboration. They trained the AI with a methodology called deep-reinforcement learning; the same is used to help AI players learn to master games such as Go software roughly modeled on biological brains extracting strategies for an AI “agent” to interact with its environment and achieve a goal In the study, published in Nature Machine Intelligence researchers trained an AI agent to direct one-millimeter-long Caenorhabditis elegans worms toward tasty patches of Escherichia coli in a four-centimeter dish A nearby camera recorded the location and orientation of every worm’s head and body; three times per second the agent received this information for the previous 15 frames giving it a sense of the past and present at each moment The agent could also turn on or off a light aimed at the dish The worms were optogenetically engineered so certain neurons would become active or inactive in response to the light The research team tested six genetic lines in which the number of light-sensitive neurons ranged from one to all 302 the worms possessed Stimulation had a different effect in each line The scientists first collected training data by flashing lights randomly at the worms for five hours then fed the data to the AI agent to find patterns before setting the agent loose If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today including the line where all neurons responded to light the agent learned to direct the worm to the target faster than if the worm had been left alone or the light had flashed randomly the agent and the worm cooperated: if the agent steered the worm straight toward a target but there were small obstacles in the path an engineer at the University of Queensland in Australia who has independently worked on cyborg insects praised the work for its simple setup—reinforcement learning is flexible and AI based on it can figure out how to perform complex tasks According to Harvard University biophysicist Chenguang Li “one can easily see how it might be extended to harder problems.” Her team is now exploring whether their method can improve electrical deep-brain stimulation to treat Parkinson’s disease in humans by adjusting the voltage used and its timing One day reinforcement learning plus implants might even give us new skills Li says—artificial and real neural nets united Matthew Hutson is a freelance science writer based in New York City and author of The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking. Subscribe to Scientific American to learn and share the most exciting discoveries innovations and ideas shaping our world today Scientific American is part of Springer Nature which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us) Scientific American maintains a strict policy of editorial independence in reporting developments in science to our readers Scientists have given artificial intelligence a direct line into the nervous systems of millimeter-long worms letting it guide the creatures to a tasty target—and demonstrating intriguing brain-AI collaboration They trained the AI with a methodology called deep-reinforcement learning; the same is used to help AI players learn to master games such as Go extracting strategies for an AI “agent” to interact with its environment and achieve a goal Matthew Hutson is a freelance science writer based in New York City and author of The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking. Sarah Lewin Frasier is Scientific American's senior news editor assigns and edits the Advances section of the monthly magazine Before joining Scientific American in 2019 she chronicled humanity's journey to the stars as associate editor at Space.com she was a print intern at Scientific American.) Frasier holds an A.B in mathematics from Brown University and an M.A in journalism from New York University's Science Health and Environmental Reporting Program She enjoys musical theater and mathematical paper craft Artificial intelligence and a tiny brain team up Chairman Mike Forster taps on the ground during the 34th World Worm Charming Championship in Cheshire Earthworms commonly come out when it's wet outside you'll often see lots of earthworms on sidewalks and roads But what makes the worms crawl away from the safety of the soil when it's raining Some people assume worms come to the surface so they do not drown in their burrows. However, "worms don't have lungs like we do," Thea Whitman a soil scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Instead, earthworms absorb oxygen through their skin, and they can do so from water as well as from air. "I have kept earthworms in water for days, and they do not die," Kevin Butt an earthworm ecologist at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston these worms will still be able to breathe." Still, Whitman noted that a 2008 study of two earthworm species discovered that oxygen consumption might play a role in why some "The species that required higher oxygen levels was more likely to crawl out of its burrow during rainy conditions," Whitman said "The species that didn't require such high oxygen levels was less likely to come to the surface some species of worms are more susceptible to low oxygen levels and may be more likely to leave their burrows due to a heavy rain while others may remain happily belowground." Related: Do animals really have instincts? Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox Another popular theory is that the "vibrations from the rain are perceived by the worms to be similar to the vibrations that normally warn them a mole is coming," Whitman said "The idea is that the worms may come to the surface during rain to escape what they think is a predator." The actions of a predator such as a mole in the soil would not be rhythmic so they would "be distinguishable by the earthworm from that of rain," he said Another possibility is that "rainwater in the soil harms the worms in some way — for example Although the 2008 study did not find evidence that harmful compounds in rainwater drove worms out of the soil Whitman did note that worm researchers sometimes use chemicals to gather worms "Pouring a mixture of mustard powder and water onto the soil irritates the worms and drives them to the surface where they can be collected and analyzed," she explained Butt suggested the most likely explanation is that earthworms surface on rainy days to move more quickly on the wet ground instead of slowly burrowing through soil as they usually do "They require moist environments to survive and so wet days could allow for them to travel above the soil," Whitman said Earthworms might make such journeys to mate or migrate —Why does rain smell so good? —Which animals are evolving fastest? —Do animals have friends? This explanation could help shed light on a practice called "foot trembling," which is seen in some birds and reptiles Instead of generating sounds by moving within the soil as moles do these animals apparently stomp on the surface generating vibrations that may mimic those from rain These vibrations "can cause earthworms to come to the surface and fall prey to the predator," Butt said Bone collector caterpillar: The very hungry caterpillar of your nightmares May's full 'Flower Moon' will be a micromoon South Sudan (AP) — Nobel Prize-winning peacemaker Jimmy Carter spent nearly four decades waging war to eliminate an ancient parasite plaguing the world’s poorest people Rarely fatal but searingly painful and debilitating Guinea worm disease infects people who drink water tainted with larvae that grow inside the body into worms as much as 3-feet-long The noodle-thin parasites then burrow their way out breaking through the skin in burning blisters READ MORE: Driven by passion and perseverance, Rosalynn Carter was a champion for mental health awareness Carter made eradicating Guinea worm a top mission of The Carter Center The former president rallied public health experts African heads of state and thousands of volunteer villagers to work toward eliminating a human disease for only the second time in history “It’d be the most exciting and gratifying accomplishment of my life,” Carter told The Associated Press in 2016 Even after entering home hospice care in February 2023 aides said Carter kept asking for Guinea worm updates the worms that afflicted an estimated 3.5 million people in 20 African and Asian countries when the center launched its campaign in 1986 are on the brink of extinction Only 14 human cases were reported across four African nations in 2023 The World Health Organization’s target for eradication is 2030 Carter Center leaders hope to achieve it sooner in a remote area of South Sudan in northeastern Africa The village of 500 people hadn’t seen Guinea worm infections since 2014 until Nyingong Aguek and her two sons drank swampy water while traveling in 2022 “Having the worm pulled out is more painful than giving birth,” said Aguek pointing to scars where four worms emerged from her left leg The center’s staff and volunteers walked house-to-house distributing water filters and teaching people to inspect dogs The Carter Center will help,” said villager Mathew Manyiel listening to a training session while checking his dog for symptoms global health agencies were otherwise occupied and heads of state largely overlooked the illness afflicting millions of their citizens Carter was still defining the center’s mission when public health experts who had served in his administration approached him with a plan to eliminate the disease Only a few years had passed since the WHO declared in 1979 that smallpox was the first human disease to be eradicated worldwide was able to do far more in global health than we could do alone,” said Dr Centers for Disease Control’s smallpox eradication program and the CDC itself before becoming The Carter Center’s first executive director Those who worked closely with Carter suspect Guinea worm’s toll on poor African farmers resonated with the former president who lived as a boy in a Georgia farmhouse without electricity or running water and it was such a spectacularly awful disease,” said Dr an architect of the campaign who led the center’s health programs until 2015 “He could sympathize with all of these farmers being too crippled from Guinea worm disease to work.” There’s no vaccine that prevents Guinea worm infections or medicine that gets rid of the parasites Treatment has changed little since ancient Greece Emerging worms are gently wound around a stick as they’re slowly pulled through the skin Removing an entire worm without breaking it can take weeks this campaign has relied on persuading millions of people to change basic behaviors Workers from the center and host governments trained volunteers to teach neighbors to filter water through cloth screens Villagers learned to watch for and report new cases — often for rewards of $100 or more Infected people and dogs had to be prevented from tainting water sources The goal was to break the worm’s life cycle — and therefore eliminate the parasite itself — in each endemic community eventually exterminating Guinea worm altogether The campaign became a model for confronting a broader range of neglected tropical diseases afflicting impoverished people with limited access to clean water equipment and medicines that helped 22 countries eliminate at least one disease within their borders Mali became the latest in May 2023 when the WHO confirmed it had ended trachoma Haiti and the Dominican Republic are working to eliminate malaria and mosquito-borne lymphatic filariasis by 2030 Countries in Africa and the Americas are pursuing an end to river blindness by 2035 president lead the charge brought big advantages to a nonprofit that relied on private donors to fund its initiatives Carter’s fundraising enabled the center to pour $500 million into fighting Guinea worm He persuaded manufacturers to donate larvicide as well as nylon cloth and specially made drinking straws to filter water His visits to afflicted villages often attracted news coverage “He went to so many of the localities where people were afflicted,” said Dr a professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University who spent 25 years in Africa “The kind of attention that was drawn to him for getting on the ground and highlighting the plight of individual people who were suffering I think that made an important difference.” Carter first saw the disease up close in 1988 while visiting a village in Ghana where nearly 350 people had worms poking through their skin He approached a young woman who appeared to be cradling a baby in her arm “But there was no baby,” Carter wrote in his 2014 book “A Call to Action.” “Instead she was holding her right breast which was almost a foot long and had a worm emerging from the nipple.” Carter used his status to sway other leaders to play larger roles spurred by the center’s charts and newsletters that showed which countries were making progress and which lagged behind Carter intervened when a civil war in southern Sudan made it too dangerous for workers to reach hundreds of hotspots The ceasefire he negotiated enabled the center and others to distribute 200,000 water filters and discover more endemic villages Carter’s efforts not only stopped transmissions in much of what became South Sudan but also built trust across communities that resulted in a “significant peace dividend,” said Makoy Samuel Yibi the young nation’s Guinea worm eradication director Pakistan in 1993 became the first endemic country to eliminate human cases cases reported worldwide were down to 32,000 — a 99% decline in less than two decades Visiting a hospital packed with suffering children and adults amid a 2007 resurgence in Ghana Carter suggested publicly that the disease should perhaps be renamed “Ghana worm.” “Ghana was deeply embarrassed,” Hopkins said Ghana ended transmission within three more years which once had the most cases in the world “That was a thunderclap,” Hopkins said Even after being diagnosed with brain cancer Carter remained focused: “I’d like the last Guinea worm to die before I do,” he told reporters in 2015 Historic flooding and years of civil war have displaced millions of people who lack clean drinking water across central Africa where infections in dogs have made the worms harder to eliminate “These are the most challenging places on planet Earth to operate in,” said Adam Weiss “You need eyes and ears on the ground every single day.” The campaign still relies on about 30,000 volunteers spread among roughly 9,000 villages Staying vigilant can be difficult now that cases are so rare “I would still like to think we will beat the timeline,” Weiss said of the 2030 eradication goal “The Carter Center is committed to this © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins An office worker in Beijing developed a parasitic infection that caused worms to grow under her right eyelid parasitic worms grew underneath a woman's upper eyelid The woman, who was 41 and lived in Beijing, went to the hospital in June 2022 after feeling like she had something in her right eye. Upon examining the eye, doctors noticed that its outer surface, the cornea They prescribed the patient eye drops to help protect the eye from further irritation and reduce the risk of infection However, a month later, the woman went back to the hospital because her eye had grown red and itchy and she could still feel something in there. When doctors reexamined her eye, they saw that the tissue below her upper eyelid was red, inflamed and larger than it should have been That was when they made a startling discovery: Four live white worms were wriggling around under the woman's eyelid the team used forceps to carefully remove the worms from the woman's eye and sent the samples to the laboratory for analysis elongated bodies that were covered in what looked like minuscule cut marks There was a mouth-like structure on one end of each body Related: Parasite that lived in woman's eye for 2 years likely came from crocodile meat Subsequent genetic testing revealed that the worms belonged to a species called Thelazia callipaeda, otherwise known as the Oriental eye worm These worms are the main species responsible for causing a parasitic disease called thelaziasis Thelaziasis is typically transmitted to animals by flies that feed on the tears of cattle and domestic animals the larvae develop into adult worms that reproduce creating new larvae that are ready to be ingested and transmitted by another fly T. callipaeda infections have been reported in animals across Asia and continental Europe thelaziasis infections can be caused by similar parasitic species such as the California eye worm (Thelazia californiensis) and the cattle eyeworm (Thelazia gulosa) Symptoms of thelaziasis in humans include itchiness and swelling of the eye —Woman gets parasitic worms in her eyes after a trail run —Parasitic worms infect 6 after bear meat served at family reunion —Parasitic worms found in man's brain after he likely ate undercooked bacon Because she refused to allow her pet to be examined no conclusions about the exact source of her infection could be drawn After the worms were successfully removed from the woman's eye she was given an eye ointment to use daily likely to prevent any follow-up bacterial infections DisclaimerThis article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer medical advice Diagnostic dilemma: A rash 'migrated' across a man's body from his anus 'Vaccine rejection is as old as vaccines themselves': Science historian Thomas Levenson on the history of germ theory and its deniers Space photo of the week: Record-breaking James Webb telescope image captures 1,678 galaxy groups at once NIH grant to UCR School of Medicine could improve treatments for metabolic disorders and helminth infections Biomedical scientists at the University of California Riverside have received a $3.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of sex-specific immune responses in obesity and parasitic worm infections — both significant global public health concerns According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than two in five American adults have obesity Linked to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and inflammatory disorders obesity has been identified as a critical factor in immune system dysfunction Helminth infections can cause several health issues Led by Meera G. Nair, a professor of biomedical sciences in the UCR School of Medicine the researchers will use a mouse model to focus on the role of macrophage-eosinophil interactions in the progression of these diseases A particular focus will be the RELMalpha protein which is released by macrophages in a sex-dependent manner.  Macrophages and eosinophils are types of disease-fighting white blood cells are proteins that are highly expressed in infectious and inflammatory diseases regulates the function of macrophages and eosinophils and shares expression patterns with resistin in humans.  “Macrophage-eosinophil interactions are crucial for the immune system’s ability to combat obesity and helminth infections,” said Nair the five-year grant’s principal investigator “We are proposing that macrophages and eosinophils driven by helminth infection may help protect against obesity differently in males and females.” Nair will be joined in the research by co-investigators Adam Godzik and Djurdjica Coss both professors of biomedical sciences in the UCR medical school The multidisciplinary project involves aspects of endocrinology — hormones and sex differences — as well as computational biology and immunology The team has already begun to explore how differences in immune responses between males and females may influence the outcomes of both diet-induced obesity and parasitic helminth infections which together affect over two billion people worldwide “We would like to understand the underlying immune mechanisms that contribute to the disparities we see in obesity and parasitic infections,” Nair said “By understanding how sex-specific immune responses affect disease outcomes more effective treatments for both metabolic disorders and helminth infections.” The team has found that parasitic worm infections turn on eosinophils and the protective immune response suggesting that understanding the protective pathways involved could mitigate diseases.  “We would like to fully understand what regulates and turns on these eosinophils particularly in adipose or fatty tissue,” Nair said “Our preliminary work shows that RELMalpha is a very good candidate Our mouse models show its response depends on whether the mouse is male or female We are now looking at the underlying sex differences and how endocrine controls can be different in males versus females we want to find the best protective pathway against metabolic dysfunction.” Coss explained that her contribution to the project will be understanding how different sexes respond to obesity.  “Research has shown that there are significant sex differences in the immune system and inflammatory diseases such as obesity and helminth infection,” she said “Results from our project will help us understand the basic science about these differences and suggest possible approaches that can be applied in the clinic.” is developing a website for sharing datasets and software related to the research that will be made publicly available.  “We have considerable experience in not only developing computational tools but also providing the scientific community with access to them,” he said “The new tools we are developing for this project will be specific to the unique population of eosinophils People can also upload their own data for analysis by our software.” understanding the role of the immune system in obesity and metabolic disease is more urgent than ever She said the complexity of the immune system in obesity and metabolic diseases especially as it relates to sex-specific and hormonal differences “What sets our research apart is its focus on the sex-specific immune mechanisms at play,” she added “It’s rare to have an infectious disease immunologist and a computational modeler with background in medicine to be able to address this topic We hope to take advantage of our unique collaboration to arrive at insights leading to new therapeutic approaches for managing obesity and related diseases particularly in men who are disproportionately affected by these diseases.” The research team will include two postdoctoral researchers and two graduate students tel: (951) 827-1012 email: webmaster@ucr.edu Keeping her multi-pet home clean is one of her more acceptable obsessions I raised dozens of worms in my New York City living room to harvest their poop I also wanted to see how much effort it would take to keep the worms alive and happy and whether this setup was a viable alternative to the backyard composting I’d been doing for over a decade The idea—as I explained to my curious husband—was that the worms and over time the valuable worm gold would sift down through the lower trays where I could collect it to fertilize my plants Placed next to our pet rabbit Pushkin’s little barn house the gray worm bin blended in nicely with my mid-century modern furniture Visitors even mistook it for a fancy storage box for bunny supplies I felt like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat when I opened the stylish contraption to dig out a handful of worms and they were the quietest roommates I’d ever had Although the internet makes worm farming sound like a breeze (and Wirecutter includes a discussion of the practice in a roundup of indoor composting methods) this anxious New Yorker soon found herself in a tizzy Like a helicopter parent anxiously hovering over her brood I was desperate to attend to my worms’ delicate needs Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my worms were escaping their enclosure through the trays’ tiny air holes (think Clint Eastwood crawling through the air vent in Escape from Alcatraz) Simply reuniting the defectors with their very extended family was not a sustainable solution we’d find wigglers that had died on their way down the stairs We accidentally stepped on them while brushing our teeth I even felt the crunch of a desiccated worm corpse as I put on one of my sneakers and part perturbed by my worms’ wanderlust I spent hours Googling the cause of this deadly worm migration Was the bedding too wet or too dry? I had added 5 inches of damp, shredded cardboard to the bin, making sure the cardboard had the right moisture level (it should feel moist but no water should come out when you squeeze it) Was the space too cramped for their growing population Was I overfeeding them even though it soon became clear that the meager capacity of my worm farm was no match for a household of two vegetable-loving adults Maybe I was giving them too many banana peels? (My worms had a sweet tooth and preferred fruit over onion and garlic skin.) Or had my worm-parenting style left them rattled Until I figured out what was going on, I left the light on in the living room at night to mimic sunshine and discourage the worms from Houdini-ing out of the box And so, I set out to see if our rabbit Pushkin’s Cocoa Puffs would restore happiness in the bin. I also added some crushed eggshells and coffee grounds, as recommended to keep things moving in the black-gold factory not a single fugitive could be found underfoot I was now discovering tiny eggs and little baby worms in the bottom tray where the parents raised their young on a soft bed of worm poop After a couple of months, I harvested the castings to use them in one of two control groups in the germination and growth experiment I was conducting with the grounds of the food recyclers as well as the control group that contained nothing but the cheapest topsoil I mixed the castings with the soil at a ratio of 1:4, which was within the range of recommendations I found online I then buried and watered my radish and barley seeds Plants with strong, anchored roots and healthy green leaves emerged from the soil-only and soil-with-worm-gold control groups. Only a few, sick-looking seedlings with gaunt roots appeared in the food-recycler samples the soil-only group outperformed the worm-poop group Maybe in my uncontrolled enthusiasm for worm farming, I had added too much of a good thing Or maybe the worm poop wasn’t matured enough As if the disappointing results weren’t enough around this time another issue began buzzing on the horizon While I had tried to bury the vegetable scraps and bunny poop as far as the shallow trays allowed fruit flies had gotten wind of it and decided to throw a summer rave in my worm farm senior editor of Wirecutter’s kitchen coverage “It’s definitely a hobby.” After two years in vermiculture her husband had ditched the farm when he “needed to offload some responsibilities,” she said Maybe I needed to offload some responsibilities My husband did mention that caring for two rabbits and two cats was plenty Once I realized that even a dozen strategically placed fruit fly traps were no match for the flies’ breeding frenzy I threw in the towel and relocated my plump little wigglers to the yard compost At least there the flies could party without driving my husband and me (and poor Pushkin) bonkers I decided that worms didn’t belong inside a New York City home If you are still interested in vermiculture don’t cross the bridge of naming your worms a level of attachment that even this animal-loving urban worm farmer feared committing to This article was edited by Ben Frumin and Katie Okamoto No matter where you live or how many kitchen scraps you amass We compiled tips from five compost experts to get you started These tools and strategies for reducing food waste skip the guilt trip and focus instead on a holistic approach to cooking Expert tips to waste less food—and save on your grocery bill—from Wirecutter kitchen editor Marilyn Ong and New York Times Cooking deputy editor Genevieve Ko Back to topMeet your guideSabine Heinlein I was a senior staff writer on Wirecutter’s home appliance team where I covered all kinds of vacuum cleaners I also ventured into the wild world of bunny care two-rabbit home clean is one of my more acceptable obsessions Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice we’ll help you get it right (the first time) The female fly lays hundreds of eggs on the exposed flesh of warm-blooded animals The eggs hatch into larvae which gorge themselves on the living tissue Ladislao Miranda’s cattle herd in western Panama had been free of the parasite for nearly 30 years but in May the 60-year-old rancher spotted white eggs on his animals He now spends his days digging worms out of haunches and treating wounds with powder “This plague is back and it’s stronger than ever,” he says This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline “The worm turns” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents Just as in the United States, working-class and immigrant voters swung right The Conservatives suffered one of the most astonishing falls from popularity in political history An interview with Evo Morales in his tropical highland stronghold MAGA bombast has upended Canada’s political universe and given Mark Carney’s Liberals an edge Donald Trump and Justin Trudeau’s toxic legacy have pushed Canadians to the centre The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission All content on this site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier B.V. JEFFERSON CITY The Missouri Department of Conservation warns residents to watch for an invasive worm While the hammerhead worm may not have the intimidating appearance of a hammerhead shark The hammerhead worm was first reported in Springfield and last month MDC officials took to Facebook to warn residents about the worms when one was spotted at the Lake of the Ozarks they may seem unremarkable except for the flat head but Angela Sokolowski an invasive species coordinator with MDC says the worms have the potential to wreak havoc on the agricultural ecosystem in the Show Me state which those earthworms play a role in conditioning our soil if these hammerhead worms start to predate on our earthworms and change their population it could change soil which could alter everything that grows in the soil.” It’s unclear how exactly the worms got to Missouri Sokolowski says more than likely they were unintentional passengers “Riding in soil that came with plants that we imported for horticultural use so landscaping plants or plants for some sort of agricultural use that came with potted soil material and these worms just so happened to be in the soil.” Sokolowski says as the temperatures continue to cool off the worms dig deeper in the soil making them more difficult to see in winter and late fall seasons If you do find one Sokolowski says you should think twice before handling it these worms kill their prey with a little bit of toxin that they exude from their bodies if folks handle them that toxin can irritate skin and cause a little rash.” The worm can regenerate its body parts when cut off which is why the MDC encourages anyone to find the worm to place it in a plastic bag with salt or white vinegar to kill the worm Suzanne Noble is in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and in the Department of Medicine — Infectious Disease doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03651-4 Download references The author declares no competing interests Fungus from the human gut slows liver disease in mice A DNA-gated molecular guard controls bacterial Hailong anti-phage defence A MERS-CoV-like mink coronavirus uses ACE2 as entry receptor Trump blew up the global fight against AIDS A front-line antiviral drug disappoints against worrisome monkeypox strain Visiting scientist Tugba Avan came from Turkey to collaborate with Rutgers–Camden faculty on potential medical breakthroughs their unique ability to thrive in below-freezing temperatures inspired scientist Tugba Avan to travel more than 5,300 miles from her home in Turkey to the Rutgers University–Camden campus where she hopes to unlock ice worms' cellular secrets “Daniel Shain's research here at Rutgers–Camden has shown that ice worms have unusually high levels of intracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which serves as the primary energy source for all living cells,” Avan said his research has shown that their levels of ATP increase as temperatures decrease a notable contrast to other organisms.”  Avan is a medical doctor and assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology at Ahi Evran University in Kirsehir where she focuses on the relationship between organisms and disease she attended the Ahi Evran International Medical and Health Sciences Congress where Shain was presenting his work on ice worms She realized a collaboration with Shain would allow her to build upon her existing knowledge and expand her research beyond the clinical samples she worked with in Turkey But arranging long-term travel to the United States would not be easy Avan applied for and received a prestigious fellowship from Turkey’s leading research agency and arrived to New Jersey in early 2024 furthering her research and collaborating with Shain and his team “I was intrigued by her proposal and welcomed the chance to work together,” Shain said “It presents a genuine opportunity to advance what we’ve come to know about ice worms and the differences in their energetics.” Shain and his team have discovered that ice worms can generate extraordinary amounts of energy because they likely "stole" a specific chain of DNA from cold-hearty bacteria they had eaten which altered their genetic and mitochondrial makeup as they evolved “By transferring this adaptation into lab-generated bacterial cells we hope to increase the stress tolerance in a variety of cell types by enhancing energy production," Shain said "A successful result would have various applications in health care and commercially." Avan agrees the potential impact could be significant “Many people suffer from mitochondrial dysfunction commonly caused by mutations in the same protein that gives ice worms increased energy," Avan said "A greater understanding of this adaptation could lead to therapeutic treatments for mitochondrial disease and would support similar research in the future.” Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues with Rutgers websites to accessibility@rutgers.edu or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier / Provide Feedback form Copyright ©2025, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. All rights reserved. Contact webmaster "Master the piloting of giant mechanical worms!" Indie developer Emerick Gibson first released Iron Mandate on Steam early access in March 2023: a roguelike shooter loosely inspired by Dune's sandworms Gibson subsequently spent around a month updating the game And he doesn't sugar-coat it either: there's "a lack of time money and fundamental issues with the core idea [so] I'm moving this game out of early access Iron Mandate was never what you would call a hit, with concurrents peaking in the low dozens, but the Steam reviews are "very positive" and there's definitely some love out there for it And I find it hard to quibble with the game description: "Master the piloting of giant mechanical worms lay waste to all that stand in your way and reclaim your rightful place on the throne!" It's the old "piloting of giant mechanical worms" that may have eventually done for it but first Gibson explains why he's dropping this update now "An alert now appears on the Steam page mentioning the fact that it has not received any updates in the past 23 months," writes Gibson "It's entirely fair of Steam but I don't want to give the impression that this is some abandoned game It is fully functional and completable as it is This pushes me to release it but I don't want to do so without an explanation." Gibson does however think Iron Mandate "fails in fundamental ways that make it hard to fix" before going right back to its origin "The starting point of the project will sound a bit silly: This scene in the opening of Dune (2021) I get that it's entirely missing the point of the shot but seeing it made me think 'I want to make a game where a scene like this happens' "I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything in 3D so I focused my thinking on a 2D game I workshopped the idea and I landed on giant mechanical worms firing missiles from side cannons Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals an awesome concept but I had to ruin it by actually trying to implement it." Gibson reckons the game's biggest failing is the "clunky experience" of the controls and teaching players poorly: "It's a mess You can get through it but by that point so much goodwill was lost and a lot of players will drop out." Gibson's also rather down on the game's visual style and representation of the ground the worms burrow through, citing Pepper Grinder as a game that does a great job of the latter but I've seen plenty of worse-looking games than Iron Mandate In one more Herculean effort to get you to not try his free game Gibson laments the lack of variety in Iron Mandate which "a roguelike lives or dies on." Gibson thought he'd be able to dream-up a tonne of weapons but "ended up with five or so weapon types with a few different levelled up versions The end result is a roguelike that you will finish in about 2 hours and probably not come back to." Then my favourite line of the whole thing: "At the end of the day there are only so many things you can do that fit into the 'lateral worm cannon' mold What else is there that wouldn't largely overlap with these?" I do believe that the only hurdle to people making good art is time and room to fail," says Gibson "I'm infinitely grateful that I was granted both to try and make this game." Gibson is now moving on to their new game: The People of Sea, Sun & Salt and one thing's instantly clear: this has an aesthetic that could really work As for Iron Mandate, Gibson says he's "still very proud of the project" and is "so happy that tens of thousands of players have had the chance to try my game." You can pick it up for free here Rich StantonSenior EditorRich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike." you will then be prompted to enter your display name Hammerhead worms are an invasive species that produce a toxic substance Hammerhead worms can grow up to three feet long and spread a neurotoxin that can lead to a rash on exposed skin these little predators will be slinking in your garden A silent assassin could be creeping around your yard The hammerhead worm “Hammerhead worms are an invasive species, that are also toxic, and have been found in Hamilton since 2020,” the Hamilton Conservation Authority said on its website Hammerhead worm is a general term for several different species of flatworms It is commonly known as the wandering broadhead planarian They can grow to five to 10 centimetres long Their most distinctive feature is their broad, hammer-shaped head, which contains sensory organs and a mouth, the County of Brant said on its website and it’s believed they came to North America in some plants shipped from Southeast Asia around 1900 so controlling the spread is the best way to maintain them The ones found in the Hamilton area are a dark brown with a black streak down the middle the toxin can also irritate humans’ skin and eyes and can be harmful to pets’ stomachs if they eat them The County of Brant suggests picking them with a shovel or with covered hands and disposing them in soapy water or vinegar and salt in a sealed container or sandwich bag Once killed you can dispose of them in the container or sandwich bag Cutting the worm into pieces won’t work as they can regenerate from the cut pieces into more fully developed worms Other locations to watch for the worm include Kitchener “Found under rock by train track, two specimens — approximately 1.5 inches long each. Possibly fragments of a larger worm that has moved on,” @peteryu1 shared on the Invasive Species in Ontario project “Killed with hand sanitizer — seemed to work If you do see them, you can also call the province’s invasive species hotline at 1-800-563-7711, or the Invasive Species in Ontario project to report a sighting A randomized controlled trial has found that a single mango-flavored tablet combining two of the most widely used treatments for neglected tropical diseases could help control an intestinal worm infection that affects an estimated 1.5 billion people a year researchers reported late last week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases The trial conducted in school-aged children in Ethiopia found that a fixed-dose combination (FDC) of ivermectin and albendazole was more effective in treating Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and other worms that cause soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections than albendazole alone The treatment was also well-accepted in children STH infections are caused primarily by ingestion of eggs laid by whipworms and hookworms (Necator americanus and Ancylostoma duodenale) in the intestine and passed to the soil and water through feces They occur primarily in countries with tropical or subtropical climates and where sanitation is poor Although most STH infections are asymptomatic they can lead to anemia and chronic protein deficiency particularly in children and pregnant women Preventive drug therapy with a single dose of albendazole or mebendazole for at-risk populations has been the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended STH control strategy for decades But concerns have been raised about its efficacy against T trichiura and the development of resistance another intestinal worm that causes STH infections does not respond to either drug but has shown high susceptibility to ivermectin Previous research has also shown that ivermectin is more effective against T trichiura when combined with albendazole which was conducted by researchers with the STOP (Stop Transmission of Intestinal Parasites) consortium orodispersible tablet combining ivermectin and albendazole trial investigators enrolled 1,001 children ages 5 to 18 from 15 schools in the three countries; 636 (64%) were infected with T trichiura They randomly assigned participants to receive either one dose of the FDC (FDCx1) The primary outcome of the phase 2 study (conducted only in Kenya) was safety during the first 3 hours after intervention and for 7 days The primary outcome of the phase 3 study was efficacy against T trichiura defined as the proportion of participants cured at day 21 A total of 360 adverse events were recorded in 256 participants mostly gastrointestinal disorders that resolved within 48 hours The frequency of adverse events was similar between the three treatment groups Efficacy analysis showed that both FDC treatment groups had much higher cures rates for T trichiura: 97.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 95.2% to 99.3%) for FDCx3 and 82.9% (95% CI 91.1% to 98.9%) also had a higher cure rate than albendazole (65.1%; 95% CI but FDCx1 was similar to albendazole (79.8%; 95% CI The sample size for S stercoralis was too small to assess efficacy But the investigators say the existing evidence suggests the FDC would work against S stercoralis given the known efficacy of ivermectin against the parasite A palatability and acceptability analysis conducted in phase 2 participants also found that most found the FDC to be good or very good in terms of taste (93%) The investigators say the results, along with the easy-to-administer, child-friendly formulation, open up new possibilities for efforts to tackle STH infections and other tropical diseases. The current WHO strategy for controlling STH infections is to reduce illness through periodic de-worming of at-risk people living in endemic areas The investigators suggest the single-dose regimen could be used for mass de-worming programs while the more effective 3-day dose could be used for individual treatments "This is a pivotal trial that opens up the possibility of controlling all species of STH, including Strongyloides, and may lead to reconsider elimination goals that were deemed unattainable with albendazole alone," Alejandro Krolewiecki, MD, clinical trial coordinator and first author, said in a press release from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health Krolewiecki and his colleagues say the next steps will be to evaluate the FDC in larger studies in other endemic countries and to assess the feasibility of widespread implementation Global Virus Network scientists highlight the need for robust surveillance and readiness for potential human-to-human viral transmission only the severe infections continued to cause symptoms.  Almost 90% of the European cases were reported in Romania The Wall Street Journal reports the Trump administration is investing $500 million in the universal vaccine project There are currently 59 herds quarantined in 4 Idaho counties The CDC today addressed what's known about treatments pushed by Kennedy urging caution about vitamin A use and citing individual decision-making by heath providers for others Yet uptake of the vaccine was extremely low—less than 4% through November 2024 Today Novavax weighed in on the FDA's latest stipulations noting that postmarketing commitments aren't unusual and are in place for many approved drugs and biologics 44% of respondents said the new leaders will make them trust their health recommendations less than they used to and Ohio notes an infection in an unvaccinated adult CIDRAP - Center for Infectious Disease Research & PolicyResearch and Innovation Office Email us © 2025 Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights Reserved.The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer Research and Innovation Office |   Contact U of M  |  Privacy Policy Newsletter subscribe uonews@uoregon.edu a game about flicking or flinging projectiles at the opponent Worms: The Board Game does focus the experience on chaos and unintended consequence but it arrives at this destination through heaps of random chance This is Worms if your carefully aligned bazooka shot was at the whim of a fistful of dice and a prayer I think designers Jack Caeser and Matt Gilbert deserve some credit. Attempting to capture the physics engine at the heart of the Worms video game series would be a nearly impossible task this duo decided to emulate the environment and energy at the heart of the game and the turmoil of unexpected outcomes is a prominent feature in this board game The Worms board game uses a straightforward system Up to four players each control their own team of four worms blowing each other and the battlefield itself apart Once a player’s entire team of worms has been eliminated and the person with the most worms remaining is the winner but one where pink fleshy nightcrawlers wield bazookas and this tabletop adaptation includes a dose of humor as well Another humorous quality is that the scatter dice are not only used for targeting weapons. When worms are hit with blast effects from explosions, the worms themselves scatter into nearby spaces. Sometimes this can throw you into a safe patch of dirt, other times it tosses you onto a mine and creates a hellish chain reaction. This is when the game is at its best. This chaos also introduces the possibility of harming yourself. Your cluster bomb could scatter backwards, landing on your own space and blowing your worm off the board and into a deadly water hex. The most memorable moments feature these dramatic resolutions, with players holding their breath as handfuls of dice are dropped to the table and violence reverberates. It can be splendid. It also can be somewhat uneventful. Occasionally, multiple spouts of flame scatter into water and no one is harmed. Sometimes your shot misses altogether and lands into an empty hex. It’s even possible you run low on weapon cards and have nothing terribly useful. A game with high variance can result in such situations of non-event. Worms: The Board Game is enjoyable and certainly offers fun, but it never manages to push through and actually achieve a sense of greatness. It’s sure enough to please most players, but it fails to leave a lasting impression. It’s less the game to repeatedly explore, and more the one someone sees on your shelf only to ask, “There’s a Worms board game? Does it involve flicking?” Worms has a competent design that occasionally produces brilliant moments of carnage, but ultimately offers an experience that is somewhat thin and faint. This is a game that's easy to forget, best suited to eat up some time with laughter and nonsense. and was involved in the Kickstarter for this board game and feel that the team did a fantastic job capturing the spirit of the video game in the board game I take a small issue with the way you approached the criticism that led to you not recommending the game So much nonsense occurs that it’s difficult to be totally committed.\" this has always been the case with Worms games and honestly constitutes the draw for those who love it We have thousands of options when it comes to highly thought out cerebral strategy games where the players' skill and knowledge of the rules drive high-stakes decisions and results Most carefully-aligned shots have unintended consequences and unnoticed hazards or pieces of the terrain can completely change the game over and over again It's less about carefully planning future moves and more about analyzing the new state of the board after the other players wreck everything before you can move again unexpected chaos is the draw because it lowers the stakes and focuses on the fun of watching stuff explode There's a reason the game series has persevered for almost 30 years I wouldn't say that the fans aren't \"totally committed.\" I really love Worms and making damage dice rolls like dnd sounds fun.