Interesting Facts

-zaphod2001: March 1999

It takes five mutations to create a cancerous colon cell. Since only 10% of cancerous genetics are inherited, that leaves 90% which are caused by outside forces, such as chemical pesticides, radiation, viruses, etc.

There is an algae called pfiesteria piscida. They can smell fish and when they do they change into an active amoebae-like creatures which attack and eat fish multiplying rapidly. Then they go back to their dormant algal state. Infected fish and shellfish are toxic to humans. Eating or even breathing these toxins may cause memory loss and personality changes in addition to pain, nausea, and vomiting. When the feeding and reproducing are good, they can form coastal swarms known as red tides. This algae is responsible for giant fish kills in the estuaries of North Carolina. It has been found that about a third of the frogs in a Minnesota pond had grotesque Frankenstein-like birth defects including missing limbs and extra limbs. A follow-up survey found these defects to be widespread throughout the Midwest. The cause is a mystery. Additionally, female fish in North Florida's Fenholloway river are developing male sex organs.

A type of tropical fish found off Okinawa normally live in groups of one dominant male and several submissive females. if a larger male comes along, the dominant male changes into a subservient female by restructuring its brain and genitalia. If the bigger male leaves or dies, the once dominant male will change back to a male. The restructuring process takes four days.

-Discovered by Matt Grover, researcher Univ of Idaho