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Parasite Correlated With World Cup Success

Posted by kdawson on from the yeah-yeah-not-causation dept.

mahiskali writes "A parasite commonly found in cats, Toxoplasma gondii, has an unnerving relation to World Cup victories by country. (This parasite was discussed here twice in 2006.) Toxo can be found in almost every type of mammal, from rats to humans. The overall goal of the parasite is to end up in a feline stomach, which is the only place it can reproduce. In other mammals, humans for example, the parasite heads for the brain. It is estimated that nearly 1/3 of the human population has a latent Toxo infection, with individual countries having infection rates varying from 6% (Korea) to 92% (Ghana). Countries with greater incidence of this parasitic infection in their populations tend to win more World Cups than those without. The article, written by a Stanford University neuroscientist, goes on to try out various rationales for such a correlation, ranging from increased testosterone to increased dissent of authority — all symptoms of a Toxo infection. Now we just need to find a parasite that causes an inability to referee properly, and we'll have this whole World Cup business all sorted out."

28 of 366 comments (clear)

  1. Good News is... by ChrisK87 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fortunately here in the States we don't have to worry about such dangerous things as world cup victories.

    1. Re:Good News is... by socz · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's not really a World Cup, it's a European-South American Cup with a couple countries from other continents invited.

      Now THAT makes sense! That's why we have the world series of baseball with only 2 countries playing!

      --
      My abilities are only limited by my imagination
    2. Re:Good News is... by DragonWriter · · Score: 5, Informative

      Except the point is that the much-ballyhooed-by-TEH-WORLD(tm) "World Cup" is just as inaccurate as the evil, evil, evil, rude, evil, evil, backwards, evil, not-at-all-like-Europe, evil, evil, hated, evil, evil, GAAAARGH WHY DO THEY NOT JUST DIE LIKE I HATE THEM TO, evil, evil, and just not nice United States's "World Series" (which is from the evil United States, meaning it is evil).

      Except that its not.

      The FIFA World Cup process includes teams from pretty much the whole world (there are few nations that don't aren't FIFA members, but not many.) Sure, most teams don't last past the
      the qualifiers, but that doesn't mean they aren't part of the process.

      OTOH, the MLB "World" Series, even including the MLB regular season as a "qualifying" process, includes teams from two countries.

      So, no, the two aren't even approximately equal.

    3. Re:Good News is... by DragonWriter · · Score: 4, Informative

      The US is top tier in FIFA rankings compared to China, India, Russia, the Islamic World.

      Russia (#11) is ranked higher than the US (#14)

      "the Islamic World" doesn't have a team, but one predominantly-Islamic country (Egypt) is ranked above the US (Egypt; #12).

      OF course, FIFA rankings and FIFA World Cup qualifications aren't all that tightly linked; many of the countries (including Asian countries) that qualify for the WC do so over higher-ranked countries (North Korea, ranked #105, being a prime example this year.)

    4. Re:Good News is... by unix1 · · Score: 5, Informative

      It's not really a World Cup, it's a European-South American Cup with a couple countries from other continents invited.

      "Invited?" Every World Cup tournament is preceded by World Cup qualifying matches in which every country meeting FIFA criteria (which is pretty much every country) participates. That's why it's called the World Cup.

    5. Re:Good News is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Almost %50 of the population... Therefore most of the world does play football, even though you are wrong with your claim. Football has a massive following in China, being one of the most popular sports, in India only being ranked second to cricket (which is kind of a given). In the US it is the most popular recreational sport for both male & female competitors.

      Your claims fall flat on their face when tested to any degree.

      The World Cup is an international event, and starts again pretty much as soon as the cup is won. Just because you only follow the World Cup when your team is in the group stages doesn't mean it isn't going on for 4 years.

      You need to check your facts before you make huge claims on slashdot, if not, we will.

    6. Re:Good News is... by Geoffrey.landis · · Score: 4, Funny

      ...That's why we have the world series of baseball with only 2 countries playing!

      You know, I've always been surprised by how often a woman from Earth wins the Miss Universe contest. You think it's rigged?

      --
      http://www.geoffreylandis.com
    7. Re:Good News is... by moranar · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ... And you'd be skewing the results another way. Part of the thing is watching good teams play. When thinking about an exciting world cup match, "North Korea vs Uzbekistan" does not come to mind. Good teams mostly come from Europe, or South America. Granted, the level of play in the last few world cups has been really shoddy, but still, using the 'let's assign slots using only population metrics' is completely absurd.

      --
      "I think it would be a good idea!"
      Gandhi, about Internet Security
    8. Re:Good News is... by fractoid · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Seriously, though, I researched toxoplasmosis a while ago (new kitten plus pregnant wife equals a million people saying OMG KEEP BABBY AWAY FROM KITTAH) and it's a very interesting disease.
      From wikipedia:

      The study suggests that male carriers have shorter attention spans, a greater likelihood of breaking rules and taking risks, and are more independent, anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose. It also suggests that these men are deemed less attractive to women. Women carriers are suggested to be more outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls. The results are shown to be true when tested on mice, though it is still inconclusive. A few scientists have suggested that, if these effects are genuine, prevalence of toxoplasmosis could be a major determinant of cultural differences.

      It makes men more macho (the study does lose major credibility, though, by suggesting that risk-taking rule-breaking antisocial men are LESS attractive to women... what planet are they from?) and it makes women friendlier and sexier. Where's the bad?

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    9. Re:Good News is... by zill · · Score: 5, Informative

      Football is the #1 sport in China and FIFA is the most watched sports event in China.

    10. Re:Good News is... by Capsaicin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not saying we need to get into a pissing match or anything, but I think it's always best to take "World" or "Universe" or whatever with more than a grain of salt whenever it's used.

      FIFA has more national members than the UN. More than 200 teams from all around the world competed for this years world cup. Apart from the Olympics, it is difficult to imagine any sporting event more appropriately tagged as "World" than this. There is certainly no single sport which attracts anywhere near the level of support football does, even if you count out the dark areas of Earth (USA/Can, India/Pakistan, Australia/NZ).

      Why do you hate reality?

      --
      Better to be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident a security. --Edmund Burke
    11. Re:Good News is... by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "It's not really a World Cup, it's a European-South American Cup with a couple countries from other continents invited."

      What makes you say that? Because the bulk of the entries come from Europe and South America? Or because that is where the winners come from, because they play the best football? The World Cup is open to all nations who ware willing to play by FIFA rules, meaning FIFA rules of the game and no (major) political interference with the tournament. In fact, I think FIFA would love it if more Asian countries put forth serious entries and improved their level of play. The increasingly strong representation of Africa in recent years has been welcomed by all, and fans around the world enjoyed seeing Ghana defeat the USA and battle Uruguay to a shoot-out, in a game they should have won. That is not to mention that both Japan and South Korea advanced past group play, Australia missed only missed out on goal differential, New Zealand were not beaten, and two CONCACAF representatives, USA and Mexico (not Honduras), faired okay.

      It is a World Cup, and open to all countries with a team good enough to earn a spot by winning some qualifying matches and showing a dedication to and respect for the beautiful game. Bangladesh or Cambodia should not be handed a ticket to Brazil in 2014 just so Asia will have more teams, they have to earn it by competing and succeeding. More competitive play could garner more regional teams in the final tournament. Until then, sorry.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    12. Re:Good News is... by Brad1138 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Every World Cup tournament is preceded by World Cup qualifying matches in which every country meeting FIFA criteria (which is pretty much every country) participates. That's why it's called the World Cup.

      You obviously know to much about soccer to be American.

      --
      If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
    13. Re:Good News is... by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 4, Funny

      Antarctica got robbed!

  2. K-dawg, here is a feature for you! by masterwit · · Score: 4, Informative

    Mr. KDawson,

    To correctly link to a text only version, use the MySlate feature found here, select your story, press view story, and link the new link. That way thousands of users will not have to press "cancel print".

    thanks,

    -Everyone

    Link without the print:

    http://www.slate.com/Apps/MySlate/action/read.aspx?action=read&ids=2259350&sortmethod=false

    --
    We should start a new Slashdot and return control to the geeks. It actually wouldn't be that hard to get some users to
    1. Re:K-dawg, here is a feature for you! by Nethead · · Score: 5, Funny

      Damn you Dawson!

      I had the 48" pen plotter selected as my default printer.

      I'll be sending you a wall poster of the article with my bill.

      --
      -- I have a private email server in my basement.
    2. Re:K-dawg, here is a feature for you! by blair1q · · Score: 4, Funny

      I had the 3D printer set up to make a solid gold PS3 controller. Now I have a solid gold Slate article. Oh yes, the bill will be forthcoming.

    3. Re:K-dawg, here is a feature for you! by imakemusic · · Score: 4, Funny

      I am a neuroscientist working on a direct connection from internet to brain. I am now slate.com as are 300 of my test subjects. We will report future articles directly to Slashdot with the power of our minds. You may pay via direct debit or with any major credit card.

      --
      Brain surgery - it's not rocket science!
  3. Correlation is not causation by hkz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sorry for shooting for the obvious, but the old trope about correlation and causation seems exactly in order here.

  4. Brain parasite... by nebaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do any of these parasites modify your voice timbre and give you glowing eyes and create in you a desire to build healing sarcophagi?

    --
    Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
    1. Re:Brain parasite... by nalidog · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, but they can make you play the holophonor like a pro.

  5. Poor Tommy... by mark72005 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We've just come back from Tommy's funeral and you are talking about a skag deal?

    1. Re:Poor Tommy... by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 5, Informative

      Just pointing out, this comment is not actually off topic, it's a reference to Trainspotting. In the film one of the characters dies of Toxoplasmosis complicated by AIDS. The guy was also a huge soccer fan.

      --
      Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
  6. Interesting fact by Itninja · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A bit OT, but I thought it was a fact worth mentioning:

    The most common carrier of Toxoplasma gondii are cats. When a cat with Toxo injures a rat (but does not kill it) it usually passes the infection to the rat. The effect of the parasite on rats makes them slower and far easier for predators (like cats) to catch/kill them. Which, in turn, passes the parasite on to the cat. The cat then takes a swipe at a rat...and so on ad infinitum.

    The parasite uses the natural predator/prey relationship to keep itself alive.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    1. Re:Interesting fact by nweaver · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, its more subtle, it removes the FEAR of cats, and in fact makes male rats horney around the scent of cat urine!

      --
      Test your net with Netalyzr
    2. Re:Interesting fact by Antony+T+Curtis · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The Toxo infection in rats not only makes the rats reaction time slower: It has been documented in detail that it also appears to modify the behaviour of the infected rats.

      Infected rats are likely to be "suicidal" insofar as putting themselves in the path of cats, hanging out near to where they smell feline urination and/or feces.

      It is in the interest of the parasite to make the rats exceedingly easy to find/kill so that they may complete their life cycle.

      --
      No sig. Move along - nothing to see here.
    3. Re:Interesting fact by je+ne+sais+quoi · · Score: 5, Informative

      More than that, the parasite doesn't just slow the rats, it actually modifies their behavior, sometimes making them attracted to cats and cat urine. It does do some strange things in humans too, e.g. it is possibly correlated to schizophrenia. I personally have always wondered if Toxoplasmosis is what causes people to keep dozens of cats in a confined space like an apartment. Having been in places like that, I can't think of a logical reason why one would otherwise want so many cats around.

      --
      Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!
  7. Re:Wouldn't almost any parasite show this correlat by h4rr4r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Netherlands is less developed? Germany is less developed?

    Tale a look at the Semis group, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Uruguay.

    This parasite is quite abundant in the more developed nations.