Re: OT: Senile, drunken hymenoptera


Robert Grumbine wrote:
Probably another entry in the list of charges against the 'intelligent'
designer.

Around this time of year wasps are getting pretty old, and fruit is
rotting (fermenting) on the ground. So there are hordes of senile
and drunk wasps flying around. Senile, drunken wasps get pretty confused
about whether they need to defend the nest so attack innocent trail
runners without much regard for whether trail runner (or equally innocent
gardner or yard mower) is actually doing anything threatening.

Saturday I got re-introduced to that bit of poor design. Also poor
design on the human side -- our sometimes hyperactive defense system.
Nailed in the leg Saturday morning by a giant european hornet, leg and
the arm on that side both swelled subtantially. Leg, three days later,
is still quite swollen. But at least the nausea is mostly past.

What's so intelligent about a defense system which is liable to kill you
itself? (n.b. recent _Discover_ magazine has an article about our T cells
not having 'brakes' which the other primates do have, and linking that to
our horde of auto-immune response illneseses.)

What?!? They most certainly do. Discover magazine is an unreliable
source. Or maybe you're misremembering?


--
Robert Grumbine http://www.radix.net/~bobg/ Science faqs and amateur activities notes and links.
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: OT: Senile, drunken hymenoptera
    ... Around this time of year wasps are getting pretty old, ... So there are hordes of senile ... Saturday I got re-introduced to that bit of poor design. ... Nailed in the leg Saturday morning by a giant european hornet, ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: OT: Senile, drunken hymenoptera
    ... Around this time of year wasps are getting pretty old, ... Saturday I got re-introduced to that bit of poor design. ... immune T cells of monkeys and apes but are few and far between in humans. ... stopping the immune system from overreacting. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • OT: Senile, drunken hymenoptera
    ... Around this time of year wasps are getting pretty old, ... Saturday I got re-introduced to that bit of poor design. ... Nailed in the leg Saturday morning by a giant european hornet, ... Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much ...
    (talk.origins)