• @CanadaPlus
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      5 hours ago

      If we’re branching out into possible non-life, prion diseases like mad cow or kuru have a creep factor. You could be terminally infected already, as you read this, and not know until you start getting clumsy and confused years from now. Also kuru is spread by long-term habitual brain cannibalism, so that’s culturally uncomfortable.

      • @angrystego@lemmy.world
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        45 hours ago

        Prions - yeah, they’re definitly creepy. They’re also hard to destroy, so they can accumulate in nature over time.

        • @angrystego@lemmy.world
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          5 hours ago

          And while we’re at it, I think Naegleria fowleri, the brain eating amoeba that lives in warm water and gets in through your nose should get an honorable mention!