CBS News
Hyper-sexual “zombie cicadas” that are infected with sexually transmitted fungus expected to emerge this year
Trillions of cicadas will emerge across several U.S. states this spring in an event one expert dubbed “cicada-geddon.” Not only are more cicadas than usual expected this year, but some of them will be “zombie cicadas” that are infected by a sexually transmitted fungus that makes them hyper-sexual.
Periodical cicadas spend most of their lives underground and only emerge after 13 or 17 years. This year, two broods of cicadas will emerge: Brood XIX, which comes out every 13 years, will emerge in the Georgia and Southeast, and Brood XIII, which emerges every 17 years, will appear in Illinois.
With this convergence, the bugs will arrive in numbers that have not been seen in generations.
Matthew Kasson, an associate professor of Mycology and Forest Pathology at West Virginia University, says both of these broods can be infected by a fungal pathogen called Massospora cicadina.
Once the cicadas emerge from the ground, they molt into adults, and within a week to 10 days, the fungus causes the backside of their abdomens open up. A chalky, white plug erupts out, taking over their bodies and making their genitals fall off.
Matthew Kasson
“The cicada continues to participate in normal activities, like it would if it was healthy,” Kasson told CBS News. “Like it tries to mate, it flies around, it walks on plants. Yet, a third of its body has been replaced by fungus. That’s really kind of bizarre.”
Kasson said the reason the cicadas might be able to ignore the fungus is that it produces an amphetamine, which could give them stamina.
“But there’s also something else unusual about it,” he said. “There’s this hyper-sexualized behavior. So, males for example, they’ll continue to try and mate with females — unsuccessfully, because again, their back end is a fungus. But they’ll also pretend to be females to get males to come to them. And that doubles the number of cicadas that an infected individual comes in contact with.”
Usually, male cicadas will let out a loud humming sound to attracted female cicadas and the female will flick her wings to signal she wants to mate. But the fungus has males flicking their wings like females to attract males and in turn, infect them, Kasson says.
Matthew Kasson
“In that way, the fungus is sexually transmissible. So, it spreads like an STD,” he said.
Kasson said where the fungus originates is still unclear. “A lot of this is still unclear because there’s a lot that happens below our feet,” he said.
Massospora cicadina produces spores on the cicadas and it is suspected that when the cicadas die, the spores get into the soil and infect other cicadas underground.
“In the month leading up to them emerging all together in a spectacular fashion, they’re waiting there, sub-surface, for the soil to reach 64 degrees,” Kasson said. It’s suspected the cicadas are infected when they are waiting underground, or when they are born and dig themselves into the soil, coming in contact with the fungus spores.
Fungus usually needs a host, like an insect, to carry the spores and spread the infection. Then, it kills the host.
Matthew Kasson
It’s suspected the Massospora cicadina fungus lays dormant for years and then begins to become a “puppet master” when the cicadas reach adulthood, Kasson said. “Because this is such a bizarre life cycle for an insect, the fungus has had to change its strategy. So, it basically keeps the host alive long enough to maximize dispersal,” he said.
It is unclear how the fungus would affect other wildlife or humans, but Kasson said in his research, he’s observed thousands of compounds in infected cicadas and some could be toxic.
“We know that a lot of animals are gobbling these cicadas up as they’re emerging — snakes and birds. Is it possible they’re having an effect on the animals that eat them? Yes, it is possible.” But, he said, less than 5% of cicadas are infected with the fungus and researchers have yet to observe any impact on other wildlife.
Kasson urges people not to eat the cicadas or kill them, but to take photos if they see the fugus on the bugs and share them with online science communities, like iNaturalist, to help researchers.
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With rampant inflation over the past couple of years, the Federal Reserve quickly raised interest rates and has held them steady for the past year. Meanwhile, gold prices have been strong recently, with the price of gold per ounce hitting a record of over $2,400 in May. Although gold prices have come down slightly since then, they’re still up over 20% in the past year. Meanwhile, inflation has been showing signs of moderating recently too, although it could still be a while until it reaches the Fed’s 2% target.
If that happens, what could it mean for the price of gold? In some ways, high inflation could help the price of gold, as the precious metal is often purchased to try to hedge against inflation.
See how much a gold investment could cost you here now.
What will happen to the price of gold if inflation hits 2%?
Inflation is only one of multiple factors that can (and have) shaped the price of gold. So, even if it falls, gold could still rise in value for other reasons.
At the same time, high interest rates that are used to try to tame inflation can temper the price of gold, as high interest rates give investors an attractive option for essentially risk-free returns, like by buying Treasuries or even keeping money in a high-yield savings account.
So, some think that gold prices could fall as inflation drops to 2%.
“If and when that occurs, that could potentially deter some demand in gold and might lower the price,” says Alex Ebkarian, COO and co-founder of Allegiance Gold, a gold investing company.
“However, it’s a mistake to just look at the Fed’s reported inflation because it only measures year over year. Looking at the last three-year cumulative compound impact of inflation continues to be evident at the grocery stores and reflective on the price increase of gold,” he adds.
So, in that sense, with gold often being seen as a store of value, gold prices could potentially remain strong even if inflation hits 2%, at least in the beginning of that low inflation period.
Learn more about investing in gold during today’s inflationary cycle now.
Other considerations
Although there’s a case to be made in both directions in terms of how lower inflation could affect the price of gold, many experts see other factors being bigger drivers.
“The price of gold does not follow the inflation rate closely over the short to medium term. Thus, even if the Fed brings inflation down to 2%, there is no way of determining the behavior of the price of gold,” says Roger D. Silk, Ph.D., founder and CEO at Sterling Foundation Management, a wealth management company.
Instead, the price of gold might be influenced by broader economic and geopolitical factors, beyond just inflation.
Some investors, for example, turn to gold as a counter to the dollar, which could potentially weaken due to large government deficits that have been running since fiscal year 2002 across presidential administrations from both parties.
“Considering the current debt level and overall cost of interest expense and on-going de-dollarization movement, and the volatility nature of the market, coupled with some early signs of weaknesses in banks lead by the commercial real estate sector, I expect the reported taming of inflation would have a neutral impact on gold,” says Ebkarian.
Meanwhile, “other forces such as gold’s no-default risk, historical positioning, liquid nature and performance during times of crisis attributes are attracting new strategic investors that are more interested in ownership rather than exposure,” he adds.
The bottom line
At first glance, inflation might seem to move the price of gold, but many other factors are also involved. Thus, if and when the US reaches the Fed’s 2% target, that does not necessarily mean that gold prices will move up or down, as other factors such as government deficits and political instability around the world could influence gold investors who are looking to diversify.
CBS News
These cannibal baby sharks eat their siblings in the womb – and sketches show just how gruesome it can be
As adults, sand tiger sharks are known for being relatively non-aggressive. But as babies, these animals engage in a cannibalistic war with dozens of siblings in which only one survives.
It’s all part of a natural occurrence known as intrauterine cannibalism. Sand tiger sharks are perhaps one of the most well-known species in which this occurs. These sharks are ovoviviparous, meaning that their offspring grow in eggs in the sharks’ uteri until they hatch, at which point, they emerge into the ocean.
“It is survival of the fittest. The strongest one will emerge,” Lizeth Webster, curator of fish and invertebrates at the Long Island Aquarium in New York told CBS News. “The healthiest one will absorb all of the nutrients, not leaving enough for the others, so it will consume others in the womb.”
NOAA/Reproduction and Embryonic Development of The Sand Tiger Shark, Odontaspis Taurus (Rafinesque)
Sand tiger sharks are known for having two uteri. In each one, a female shark will have between 16 and 23 fertilized eggs. But not long after they develop their teeth, the biggest and most advanced of the embryos that’s often the first to hatch will kill and eat all the siblings it shares a uterus with, as well as any leftover yolk sacs. After being in the womb for eight to nine months, two pups – one from each uterus – will make it out into the sea.
“That’s how we get apex predators,” Webster said. “The strongest will survive.”
NOAA/Reproduction and Embryonic Development of The Sand Tiger Shark, Odontaspis Taurus (Rafinesque)
Shark scientists have known about this process for decades. In research published in NOAA’s Fishery Bulletin in 1983, they even provided visual depictions of the process.
In one case, they observed “a large hatched embryo (100 mm) that had attacked and badly damaged (puncture wounds and torn gut) a 51 mm embryo. … It is possible that the 51 mm embryo had not hatched prior to the attack.”
NOAA/Reproduction and Embryonic Development of The Sand Tiger Shark, Odontaspis Taurus (Rafinesque)
That cannibalism, however, meets a hard stop whenever the sharks are officially born. Sand tiger sharks, otherwise known as ragged-tooth sharks and grey nurse sharks, tend to eat herrings, eels, squids, crabs and lobsters, among other animals.
And no, humans aren’t on the list. The animals are known for not being aggressive toward humans, although they will become defensive if necessary. Once they grow, Webster described the animals as “calm.”
“Usually in the wild, they swim in large packs,” she said. “…When they’re in large groups like that they tend to be a lot calmer because they do have to swim in unison with other sharks. They just look like they’re floating and they’re calm.”
And while eating their siblings does help ensure that strong pups are born, it also makes it difficult for the species to survive.
The sharks, which can grow to be up to 10 feet and 500 pounds, according to the Long Island Aquarium, have one of the lowest reproductive rates among all shark species. According to the Aquarium of the Pacific, they only give birth every two years. And that poses a major problem considering the species has reached critically endangered status.
According to the IUCN Red List, populations have been decreasing worldwide, with the Mediterranean population being “locally possibly extinct,” as there have been no records of the shark in the area since 2008. Overall, researchers with the group believe the species has seen a more than 80% decline over the past 74 years “due to levels of exploitation.” Urban and industrial development, overfishing, climate change and severe weather impacting their habitats remain the biggest threats to the species.
