If you find yourself swimming in the Amazon River, wearing loose shorts (or naked), and urinating in the water – you may be in grave danger. A candirú just might swim into your urethra and lodge itself there. Long considered a myth or “bush legend,” this fear has recently (and unfortunately) come to light as true. The name “candirú” actually refers to several species in the Trichomycteridae family and the Vandelliinae subfamily – they are tiny, parasitic, transparent catfish that subsist upon the blood of larger fish. Most of these species lodge themselves among the gills of larger fish (they have sets of backward-facing spines around their head) and live on the blood of their unfortunate hosts. Accounts* also note that some candirú species lodge themselves in the anuses of larger (and terribly unfortunate) fish. Perhaps as a case of mistaken identity, they seem to be attracted to human urine (which perhaps has a chemical signature similar to fish excreta or gill respiration) and will advance to the source, and at times lodge themselves in that source. A 1997 incident of a young man (23 yrs old) near Manaus, Brazil who had a candirú removed from his manhood is one of the first extensively and scientifically documented cases (gnarly web archive photos of the procedure here). The dead specimen (a species of Plectrochilus), which was removed with some difficulty, measured 133.5mm long and 11.5mm at the widest part of its head. The man and his equipment survived intact. A fish this size seemed to have little difficulty working its entire body into the urethra of the poor man. To offer a sense of scale, here is an illustration of a Trichomycterid candirú with an American quarter (specimen illustration redrawn from Spotte).

*The definitive work on this subject is marine scientist Stephen Spotte’s “Candiru: Life and Legend of the Bloodsucking Catfishes.” Spotte has left no stone unturned in this extensive collection of candirú accounts and current research. I got it for Christmas, an awesome read.

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There is a secret TV channel that only rich people can get.

Here is the reality: No, it is not a secret. Yes, it is a little creepy.

It is called “Plum TV” (the name alone is the flavor of lame that rich people flock to). On their website, Plum TV states:

“Plum is dedicated to producing the most informative and entertaining programming that celebrates life in our vibrant communities.”

The vibrant communities that Plum TV celebrates happen to be:

•Aspen
•The Hamptons
•Martha’s Vinyard
•Nantucket
•Telluride
•Vail

Regarding their use of the word “our” – one could surmise that it refers to those who own the costly properties in these celebrated (and gated) communities. The wealthy don’t celebrate their lives enough these days – it’s good to know there’s a whole channel dedicated to doing so.

(via Planet Timbotron, via Susan)

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Earlier this year, scientists made several great leaps closer to a scientific understanding of “ball lightning” and how it is naturally generated – following the hypothesis that ball lightning could be generated by lightning striking soil and a “ball” of vaporized silicon (from the soil) would breifly maintain an electrical charge. Laboratory tests using electrically superheated silicon produced “ball lightning” that persisted for several seconds, moved and changed direction, briefly maintained a “ball” shape, and briefly maintained high temperatures – all typical characteristics reported in natural ball lightning sightings.

Here’s a video of a laboratory recreation of “ball lightning”:

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