Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - Printable Version
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Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - BostonCard - 12-16-2015
It's the annual Christmas issue of the Economist, and by tradition, they feature articles about esoterica that you probably never even imagined existed, let alone was interesting. Which seems perfect for this board.
http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21683980-demand-aphrodisiac-has-brought-unprecedented-wealth-rural-tibetand-trouble
Here's the article about caterpillar fungus, a supposed aphrodisiac from the alpine plains in Tibet, and how it's skyrocketing price has changed the rural tibet.
As I said, it's OT, even for this board, but we don't have any more football games until Jan. 1
BC
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - ca245 - 12-16-2015
Caterpillar fungus has been around Chinese traditional medicine circles for thousands of years, as a general health tonic and an aphrodisiac. It made news in the West in the 1990's when Chinese women were setting world records in distance track events. When suspicions about PEDs were raised, the coach attributed their success to caterpillar fungus. In the Bay Area, you can buy it at Chinese dry goods stores. Biologically it is the fruiting body -- i.e. "mushroom" -- of a fungus that parasitized and eventually killed a caterpillar.
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - dabigv13 - 12-17-2015
The article seems to indicate it has only been around for a couple hundred years.
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - BostonCard - 12-17-2015
(12-16-2015, 11:53 PM)ca245 link Wrote:Biologically it is the fruiting body -- i.e. "mushroom" -- of a fungus that parasitized and eventually killed a caterpillar.
Yeah, the whole thing is a bit creepy...
Quote:In summer the airborne spores of a fungus known as cordyceps (or ophiocordyceps) sinensis invade the caterpillars of various species of ghost moth, a large pale insect that flits over the pastures at dusk. After grubs thus infected bury themselves in the soil to hibernate, they die; when winter comes they freeze. The warmth of spring activates the fungus, which grows to fill the caterpillars entire body, leaving only the outer skin. A spindly brown shoot of it emerges from the caterpillars head and pushes its way through the soil into daylight: just four or five centimetresso tiny and often so widely separated from others that the keenest of eyes are needed to spot it.
Sound like an awful way for the poor caterpillar to go.
By the way, that was hardly the only interesting article in the special.
Here's one on the father of the NSA...
http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21683975-man-who-made-edward-snowden-inevitable-black-chamber
BC
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - OutsiderFan - 12-17-2015
The Chinese seem obsessed with boners. I guess that's why they lead the world in population. I just wish they would leave sharks alone. Shark fin soup is one of the top 5 things that piss me off most in the world. If they can get their rocks off with caterpillars, there is no need to wipe out the sharks in the ocean.
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - Mick - 12-17-2015
(12-17-2015, 07:49 AM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:The Chinese seem obsessed with boners. I guess that's why they lead the world in population. I just wish they would leave sharks alone. Shark fin soup is one of the top 5 things that piss me off most in the world. If they can get their rocks off with caterpillars, there is no need to wipe out the sharks in the ocean.
Or the rhinos. Just sayin'
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - stupac2 - 12-17-2015
(12-17-2015, 01:20 AM)Boston Card link Wrote:[quote author=ca245 link=topic=14100.msg148732#msg148732 date=1450335228]
Biologically it is the fruiting body -- i.e. "mushroom" -- of a fungus that parasitized and eventually killed a caterpillar.
Yeah, the whole thing is a bit creepy...
Quote:In summer the airborne spores of a fungus known as cordyceps (or ophiocordyceps) sinensis invade the caterpillars of various species of ghost moth, a large pale insect that flits over the pastures at dusk. After grubs thus infected bury themselves in the soil to hibernate, they die; when winter comes they freeze. The warmth of spring activates the fungus, which grows to fill the caterpillars entire body, leaving only the outer skin. A spindly brown shoot of it emerges from the caterpillars head and pushes its way through the soil into daylight: just four or five centimetresso tiny and often so widely separated from others that the keenest of eyes are needed to spot it.
Sound like an awful way for the poor caterpillar to go.
By the way, that was hardly the only interesting article in the special.
Here's one on the father of the NSA...
http://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21683975-man-who-made-edward-snowden-inevitable-black-chamber
BC
[/quote]
That's really nothing. Here's another in this vein that I read recently: http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/12/04/parasite-kills-insect-then-makes-it-smelly-and-unappetising/
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - CTcard - 12-17-2015
(12-16-2015, 11:53 PM)ca245 link Wrote:Caterpillar fungus ... made news in the West in the 1990's when Chinese women were setting world records in distance track events. When suspicions about PEDs were raised, the coach attributed their success to caterpillar fungus.
I have to admit, that particular incident did make me think a bit about what is cheating and what should be considered a PED.
Let's assume the story is true; that something in caterpillar fungus actually helped these Chinese women run faster for longer.
What exactly was it?
Does that by caterpillar fungus a PED? Or a PED that's okay?
What should be outlawed?
Only things on a list - so far?
Only things with negative side effects?
Only things with some unspecified amount of processing beyond where the ingredients are first found?
Only things that are not available to everybody?
The incident didn't shake my belief that taking PEDs is bad, very bad ... but did make me wonder if we can really define the issue properly.
Re: Very OT: Caterpillar fungus (Himalayan Viagra) - stupac2 - 12-17-2015
As far as I'm concerned something is only a PED if it has significant negative health effects. The reason to ban those things is so you don't end up with a race to the bottom where everyone's destroying their internal organs taking these terrible drugs. But if it's something that's benign? Then fine, let people use it. It doesn't hurt that those things are probably all useless anyway.