2011-08-08
Original: 2011-08-08 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (snail):
Caption: The trematode infects a horn snail, castrates it, and uses its body to reproduce.
Panel 2 (fish, with a snail at right):
Caption: There, it releases cercariae, which attach to killifish and burrow toward their brains.
Panel 3 (fish):
Caption: Once in the brain, they cause the fish to shimmy and flash their shiny sides upward.
Fish: Why you doin' that, Frank?
Frank (fish): Because it's awesome.
Panel 4 (bird mouth/beak):
Caption: This gets the parasite to its ultimate goal: the gut of a predatory bird.
Voice: What's the gut?
Another voice: Shut up, kids.
Panel 5 (bird flying over water):
Caption: From there, they are excreted back into the water to infect snails.
Bird: Hahahaha! Everything is as I foresaw it!
Panel 6 (silhouettes of many birds/animals on a hillside):
Caption: What happens to the killifish isn't strange in nature. In fact, it may be common.
Panel 7 (silhouettes of people/figures):
Caption: Since humans are atop their food chain, it's not clear that we'll be subject to the same sort of manipulations. Though sometimes I wonder about astrophysicists.
Panel 8 (two men talking):
Man 1: These send signals to space so aliens can find us!
Man 2: Awesome!!
Votey:
Fun fact:
Today's comic features the organism studied by my wife, Kelly Weinersmith. Due to the existence of this comic, any discoveries she makes are now credited to me.
Caption: The trematode infects a horn snail, castrates it, and uses its body to reproduce.
Panel 2 (fish, with a snail at right):
Caption: There, it releases cercariae, which attach to killifish and burrow toward their brains.
Panel 3 (fish):
Caption: Once in the brain, they cause the fish to shimmy and flash their shiny sides upward.
Fish: Why you doin' that, Frank?
Frank (fish): Because it's awesome.
Panel 4 (bird mouth/beak):
Caption: This gets the parasite to its ultimate goal: the gut of a predatory bird.
Voice: What's the gut?
Another voice: Shut up, kids.
Panel 5 (bird flying over water):
Caption: From there, they are excreted back into the water to infect snails.
Bird: Hahahaha! Everything is as I foresaw it!
Panel 6 (silhouettes of many birds/animals on a hillside):
Caption: What happens to the killifish isn't strange in nature. In fact, it may be common.
Panel 7 (silhouettes of people/figures):
Caption: Since humans are atop their food chain, it's not clear that we'll be subject to the same sort of manipulations. Though sometimes I wonder about astrophysicists.
Panel 8 (two men talking):
Man 1: These send signals to space so aliens can find us!
Man 2: Awesome!!
Votey:
Fun fact:
Today's comic features the organism studied by my wife, Kelly Weinersmith. Due to the existence of this comic, any discoveries she makes are now credited to me.
Alt text
A tall vertical SMBC comic explaining how a trematode parasite manipulates its hosts. Panel 1: a snail, with the caption that the trematode infects a horn snail, castrates it, and uses its body to reproduce. Panel 2: a fish with a snail; cercariae are released and burrow toward killifish brains. Panel 3: a shimmering fish; the parasite makes the fish flash its shiny sides upward. One fish asks 'Why you doin' that, Frank?' and Frank replies 'Because it's awesome.' Panel 4: a gaping bird beak; the goal is the gut of a predatory bird, while offscreen kids ask 'What's the gut?' and are told 'Shut up, kids.' Panel 5: a bird flying over water cackling 'Hahahaha! Everything is as I foresaw it!' as the parasite is excreted back to infect snails. Panel 6: silhouetted animals on a hillside, noting this manipulation may be common in nature. Panel 7: silhouetted human figures, musing that humans atop the food chain may not be subject to such manipulation 'though sometimes I wonder about astrophysicists.' Panel 8: two men, one saying 'These send signals to space so aliens can find us!' and the other replying 'Awesome!!' Votey: a text panel reading 'Fun fact: Today's comic features the organism studied by my wife, Kelly Weinersmith. Due to the existence of this comic, any discoveries she makes are now credited to me.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.