Oh science, why do you do these things?
Rose sent me a link about mad cow disease being spread through the air, and I read the whole article and agree 100%. Just like a football can be spread through the air by throwing it, one can take bits of infected cow brain, throw them around like confetti, and if they fall in your mouth, you die.
That’s pretty much what the researchers did, which adds mad cow disease to a special class of “can be made airborne and kill you” items that previously was reserved for cutlery. And anvils.
Somehow, this research, and you know there’s a grant application lurking in there somewhere, but this research attempts to solve the riddle of how vegetarians died from the human form of mad cow disease, which should be impossible since eating cow is by definition not vegetarian. The new theory, which rivals the craziest JFK nonsense I can dream up, is that some rogue agent ground up some sick cow and gave it to a dude known for doing spit takes in the cafeteria.
The researchers do point out that this scenario pretty much never happens, and we shouldn’t shun sick humans because they’re not actually capable of exhaling bits of their own brains, so they’re safe to be around. Where the story gets interesting is the workplace safety issues that come up for slaughterhouse workers, where stuff sprays around an awful lot, and hey, Daily Mail, since you went to the trouble of finding out that 170 people have died from mad cow disease since 1996, would it kill you, not literally because you inhaled a big whiff of brain, but would it kill you figuratively, to share if any of these people worked in slaughterhouses?
Anyway, until more research is done, and you can be sure someone’s going to do it, you should hold off on throwing your prions in the air like you just don’t care. The life you save could be, well, mine.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Are you cereal because if it anything can be thrown like a flu covered fruit snack. I think what im saying is that any sickness can be spread by a flying object so what’s the point and who would throw a mad cow infected brain anyways.
You know who would throw a mad cow infected brain? Scientists, apparently. Because they never figured out sports.
So here is another thing about Mad Cow Disease.. caused by Prions which wait for it, are very hard to destroy.. in fact they survive a lot of fires.. and lets recall what happened to the cows in the UK that had mad cow disease.. yep, they were killed and rolled into a pile then burnt. What happened to the prions I wonder, did they float up into the air like all the other ashes?
scary.
Iain, Yes, it’s caused by a prion (Like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) but they do not know if it can be airborne. In fact, they don’t know much about it at all, which is why it is so scary. I’m an embalmer, and the funeral home I work for will not allow anyone who has died of mad cow, or CJD to be embalmed or viewed. Our instruments would all have to be thrown away, and the liabilities surrounding exposing the public to this unknown illness are enormous. Hmm, another reason why we shouldn’t eat cows….or eachother. Although, I’m sure I would be pretty tasty.
we need not fear very much about mad cow disease, but we also need to be vigilant if we look around the neighborhood about the symptoms of mad cow disease. not to make excessive fear phobia and will hurt us too.
i-tasik
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“craziest JFK nonsense” The CIA assasinated JFK because he was going to end the vietnam war which would cause bankers and the U.S. government to miss out on tons of money. The government doesn’t give a fuck about you they only want money.