Zombie fungus-infected fly that likely lived among dinosaurs is preserved in amber
Some of the most intriguing science fiction springs from eerie, real-life phenomena. Case in point, the mutant parasite in the video game series 'The Last of Us.'
Creators of the franchise, which includes a show on HBO, got the idea from a type of fungus that hijacks the brains of ants and releases a flurry of lethal spores. (Both HBO and CNN belong to the parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.)
In 'The Last of Us,' the fungi can infect humans, snaking tendrils through their skin. No one can stop the spread of the disease as it spurs each host, bursting with mushroom-like fruiting bodies, to keep infecting others.
The actual fungus group Ophiocordyceps lives off a variety of insects — but the rest of the plot is pure sci-fi.
This week, a new find is shedding light on just how long mind-controlling parasites have plagued the insect world.
A glob of 99 million-year-old amber trapped a zombie fungus erupting from a fly, preserving one of the oldest examples of a fungal parasite hijacking an insect's body before killing it. The fungus and its host likely lived alongside the dinosaurs.
The fly, as well as a second specimen of an infected ant in its cocoon, or pupal stage, shows the complexity of ancient ecosystems, in which fungal parasites could 'prey on' insects, said Yuhui Zhuang, a doctoral student at the Institute of Paleontology at Yunnan University in Kunming, China.
Both amber-encased specimens could help scientists figure out whether the fungi are the ancestors of the parasites that enter the vulnerable heads of today's carpenter ants.
Axiom Space Mission 4, a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, launched on Wednesday after an extended delay due to a long-standing leak issue at the in-orbit research facility.
Air has been slowly escaping through tiny cracks in a tunnel that connects Russia's Zvezda module to a docking port for spacecraft carrying cargo and supplies.
The steady leak, identified in 2019, recently stopped, however, raising concerns that the entire space station is losing air.
In a joint European Space Agency and NASA mission, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured never-before-seen footage of the sun's south pole, which could help scientists understand more about how space weather affects Earth.
The first cosmic imagery from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has arrived — and it's mind-blowing.
Taken with the largest camera ever built, the images and videos feature over 2,000 newly detected asteroids, millions of distant galaxies and stars, and details of stellar nursery nebulae that resemble colorful cotton candy.
This initial glimpse of Rubin's capabilities — test observations from just over 10 hours — is only a preview of what the observatory will produce over the next 10 years: a cinematic view of the universe and how it changes over time.
Drone footage captured a distinct population of orcas in the Northeast Pacific's Salish Sea doing something never witnessed before in marine mammals: using a tool for grooming.
Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, spotted the Southern Resident killer whales detaching strands of bull kelp from the seafloor and grooming each other with it in a practice dubbed 'allokelping.'
These kelp 'combs,' which the orcas rubbed on each other for up to 15 minutes at a time, could serve two purposes: exfoliating dead skin and deepening social bonds.
Catch up on these fascinating stories:
— 'Super coral,' which are naturally more resilient to environmental changes, could be the key to saving Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Conservation scientists have already found dozens of these hardy species growing in a hot, acidic habitat.
— Routine dredging of a river in the Netherlands turned up an incredibly well-preserved, nearly 1,000-year-old sword decorated with spiritual symbols.
— Fossils unearthed in Colorado belong to a previously unknown dinosaur species about the size of a Labrador retriever that has long hind legs built for speedy running.
— Scientists say they have identified Earth's oldest rocks in Quebec. The outcrop reveals details of an unknown chapter in our planet's history.
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Zombie fungus-infected fly that likely lived among dinosaurs is preserved in amber
Editor's note: A version of this story appeared in CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. Some of the most intriguing science fiction springs from eerie, real-life phenomena. Case in point, the mutant parasite in the video game series 'The Last of Us.' Creators of the franchise, which includes a show on HBO, got the idea from a type of fungus that hijacks the brains of ants and releases a flurry of lethal spores. (Both HBO and CNN belong to the parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.) In 'The Last of Us,' the fungi can infect humans, snaking tendrils through their skin. No one can stop the spread of the disease as it spurs each host, bursting with mushroom-like fruiting bodies, to keep infecting others. The actual fungus group Ophiocordyceps lives off a variety of insects — but the rest of the plot is pure sci-fi. This week, a new find is shedding light on just how long mind-controlling parasites have plagued the insect world. A glob of 99 million-year-old amber trapped a zombie fungus erupting from a fly, preserving one of the oldest examples of a fungal parasite hijacking an insect's body before killing it. The fungus and its host likely lived alongside the dinosaurs. The fly, as well as a second specimen of an infected ant in its cocoon, or pupal stage, shows the complexity of ancient ecosystems, in which fungal parasites could 'prey on' insects, said Yuhui Zhuang, a doctoral student at the Institute of Paleontology at Yunnan University in Kunming, China. Both amber-encased specimens could help scientists figure out whether the fungi are the ancestors of the parasites that enter the vulnerable heads of today's carpenter ants. Axiom Space Mission 4, a private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, launched on Wednesday after an extended delay due to a long-standing leak issue at the in-orbit research facility. Air has been slowly escaping through tiny cracks in a tunnel that connects Russia's Zvezda module to a docking port for spacecraft carrying cargo and supplies. The steady leak, identified in 2019, recently stopped, however, raising concerns that the entire space station is losing air. In a joint European Space Agency and NASA mission, the Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured never-before-seen footage of the sun's south pole, which could help scientists understand more about how space weather affects Earth. The first cosmic imagery from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has arrived — and it's mind-blowing. Taken with the largest camera ever built, the images and videos feature over 2,000 newly detected asteroids, millions of distant galaxies and stars, and details of stellar nursery nebulae that resemble colorful cotton candy. This initial glimpse of Rubin's capabilities — test observations from just over 10 hours — is only a preview of what the observatory will produce over the next 10 years: a cinematic view of the universe and how it changes over time. Drone footage captured a distinct population of orcas in the Northeast Pacific's Salish Sea doing something never witnessed before in marine mammals: using a tool for grooming. Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research in Friday Harbor, Washington, spotted the Southern Resident killer whales detaching strands of bull kelp from the seafloor and grooming each other with it in a practice dubbed 'allokelping.' These kelp 'combs,' which the orcas rubbed on each other for up to 15 minutes at a time, could serve two purposes: exfoliating dead skin and deepening social bonds. Catch up on these fascinating stories: — 'Super coral,' which are naturally more resilient to environmental changes, could be the key to saving Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Conservation scientists have already found dozens of these hardy species growing in a hot, acidic habitat. — Routine dredging of a river in the Netherlands turned up an incredibly well-preserved, nearly 1,000-year-old sword decorated with spiritual symbols. — Fossils unearthed in Colorado belong to a previously unknown dinosaur species about the size of a Labrador retriever that has long hind legs built for speedy running. — Scientists say they have identified Earth's oldest rocks in Quebec. The outcrop reveals details of an unknown chapter in our planet's history. Like what you've read? Oh, but there's more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writers Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt and Jackie Wattles. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.
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Indeed, over multiple years and multiple reviews of the joint NASA/European Space Agency MSR project there is a sticker-shock price tag; a last estimate was about $11 billion, with samples being returned to Earth in 2040. MSR's mission cost was deemed too costly and would not be achieved on an acceptable time period by NASA's last, non-acting Administrator, Bill Nelson. While techno-squabbles over MSR have been on-going, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has been doggedly on the hunt within Jezero Crater. Since its touchdown in February 2021, the car-sized robot has been obediently gathering rock samples across the martian landscape. Some of those sealed specimens may well contain signs of past life on the Red Planet, and are deemed rocket-ready for pick-up and delivery to Earth. The White House shutdown of the NASA/ESA MSR venture via the Trump budget "forfeits Mars Sample Return to China," declares a recent episode of the popular Mars Guy program, created by Steve Ruff, a leading planetary geologist at Arizona State University (ASU) in Tempe. The President's budget forfeits the highest priority planetary science goal of MSR to China, but only if the US Congress agrees, Ruff notes. In the interim, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, unveiled in early June his legislative directives for Senate Republicans' budget reconciliation bill, shaped to beat China to Mars and the Moon. It dedicates almost $10 billion to win the new space race with China and ensure America dominates space by making, for one, targeted, critical investments in Mars-forward technology. In the lawmaker's directive, Cruz calls for a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, pegging $700 million for the commercial procurement of the dual-use orbiter. Its assignment is to handle both a Mars Sample Return mission to return core samples of Mars to Earth, as well as future human Mars missions. But if China is on the MSR march to the Red Planet and NASA isn't, what about China returning already prime pre-selected specimens picked up by NASA's Perseverance Rover still busily at work within Jezero Crater? "China's mission probably won't have access to comparably compelling samples as those collected by Perseverance because of engineering constraints that limit where it can land and the limited mobility options it will have," Ruff explains. "I know from regular comments on my YouTube channel for Mars Guy that there's a commonly held view that the Chinese can or will pick up the samples in Jezero crater. But this simply can't happen given the engineering constraints of their Mars sample return mission as publicly presented. That mission will have neither the landing precision nor mobility on the surface to get to either the sample depot or to Perseverance," Ruff told "So China is not going to save the NASA/ESA MSR mission." On the other hand, China's Zengqian and colleagues state that exploration of Mars is a collective endeavor for all of humanity, writing in Nature Astronomy: "The Tianwen-3 mission is committed to win–win cooperation, harmonious coexistence and shared prosperity through international cooperation. It actively seeks international partnerships through various channels and at various levels for joint scientific research, landing site selection and scientific payload development and testing." Cooperation on MSR between the US and China, however, seems a bit of a dice roll, said Barry E. DiGregorio, founder and director of the International Committee Against Mars Sample Return based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. While China is inviting international cooperation, recent debates on tariffs between the two nations would seem to make the proposition difficult to hammer out. "Now is the time to consider other options such as sending in-situ life detection instruments to Mars to settle the issue of extant life," DiGregorio told "We need to be sure what the next phase of Mars missions will be. With the continued push to get humans to Mars, astronaut safety should now take priority and that means making sure of biosafety concerns with any indigenous life forms that might be found," said DiGregorio. While China is poised to become the first country to return potentially biologically active planetary material — including potential life forms — from beyond Earth, "the potential risk such substances might pose to terrestrial life, including humans, is a major concern," points out Yiliang at the University of Hong Kong. To arrest that anxiety China plans to construct a specialized MSR facility on the outskirts of Hefei, the capital of Anhui, China. Within that facility, freshly-returned samples from Mars would undergo comprehensive biochemical and pathological testing under strict isolation from the Earth's environment. "Only after it is conclusively determined that the samples contain no active biological agents or substances that could threaten the Earth's biosphere will they be released to designated laboratories for in-depth scientific analysis," concludes the University of Hong Kong statement. The prospect of plucked collectibles to Earth for close-up inspection in state-of-the-art facilities is now literally "up for grabs" — but by what nation? As voiced in a June 23 draft of candidate findings, statements of support/concern by the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG), a community-based, interdisciplinary forum: "Ambitious, first-of-their-kind missions like MSR come with challenges but NASA's history of success in difficult endeavors is what makes the US the international leader in deep space exploration," the document states. "Returning the scientifically selected samples that await us on Mars, as part of a balanced portfolio, will help to ensure the US does not cede leadership in deep space to other nations, such as China."
