Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Fish Poison Makes Hot Feel Cold and Vice Versa

Posted by kdawson on from the rhymes-with-fugu dept.

SoyChemist writes "Ciguatoxin causes bizarre neurological symptoms including temperature reversal, a burning sensation, and an imaginary feeling of loose teeth. It is produced by algae and accumulates in the fatty flesh of tropical fish. While traveling to the tropics, a man from England ate some bad seafood that contained the unusual poison. His story, and the tale of some unfortunate sailors of an earlier age who suffered the same affliction, appeared in the current issue of Practical Neurology and was summarized on the Wired Science Blog. Both the Wired blog and the peer-reviewed journal neglected to mention that the potent neurotoxin has been made from scratch by organic chemists."

8 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Paradoxical Dysaesthesia by die444die · · Score: 5, Funny

    paradoxical dysaesthesia is hot.

    --
    die444die
  2. Remember when... by The_Mystic_For_Real · · Score: 5, Informative

    Remember when submitters used to mark links that required payment?

    --

    _____

    Thank you.

  3. Hmm by evilviper · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ciguatoxin causes bizarre neurological symptoms including temperature reversal,

    Ah yes, good old XNOR poison... It's been a long time old friend.
    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  4. Ciguatera is Common knowledge by waimate · · Score: 5, Informative

    C'mon, this is common knowledge among people who hang around the pacific. If you catch a large fish, don't eat the whole thing... eat some, and share around to dilute the risk. People have known this for over 30 years. Large fish have higher risk just because they are older.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera

    1. Re:Ciguatera is Common knowledge by ianalis · · Score: 5, Funny

      Share it... for mutually assured destruction :)

  5. Where to order? by clarkkent09 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The article failed to mention where can I get some of this poison? I need to cut down on my heating bill this winter.

    --
    Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    1. Re:Where to order? by artifex2004 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The article failed to mention where can I get some of this poison? I need to cut down on my heating bill this winter.


      Ethanol is commonly known to give feelings of warmth, ; in fact, the movie A Time For Drunken Horses is so named because the winter weather is so harsh that the only way the Iranian Kurds can get horses to work is to give them liquor.
    2. Re:Where to order? by iknownuttin · · Score: 5, Funny
      The article failed to mention where can I get some of this poison? I need to cut down on my heating bill this winter.

      This is nice and everything, but I want know what the hell is my wife taking that makes her cold even when I'm sweating bullets!

      --
      I prefer Flambe as apposed flamebait.