this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024
978 points (97.7% liked)

Science Memes

10963 readers
2247 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world 19 points 4 months ago (4 children)

This is like the question I've always asked about getting sick.

Do you produce extra mucous because your body is trying to get rid of what's making you sick or does the illness make you produce more mucous in order to spread more easily?

[–] br3d@lemmy.world 31 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I suspect the serious answer is that we produce mucus and sneezing as a natural response to microbes, and that's the environment within which microbes have evolved to take advantage of the mucus and sneezing

[–] jpeps@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Pretty sure this is exactly correct. I read the Kurzgesagt book Immune recently and it was a fascinating view into how our bodies are really the result of ancient warfare, with constant oneupmanship between us and the environment.

[–] danc4498@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Survival of the fittest does not work with intent.

[–] AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net 1 points 4 months ago

It does if I kill loads of stuff

[–] Steve@startrek.website 15 points 4 months ago

Evolution is a loop of random mutations that get reproduced if they randomly happen to give the organism better odds at reproduction.

Some germ gets a little better at spreading via mucous, so it gets to reproduce more because humans make mucous when they get sick

[–] name_NULL111653@pawb.social 5 points 4 months ago

Idk about the mucous, but a fever is definitely an attempt at killing whatever foreign pathogen is there. Hopefully a pathologist or doctor can help us here.

[–] CobblerScholar@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago

Mucus is one of the bodies innate methods of protection, same with vomiting, same with crying same with sweating. The body knows something is wrong so it kicks the production of those into overdrive to hopefully force whatever was in it out. Its why we start sweating, salivating and sometimes vomit when we eat super spicy peppers despite the fruit being room temp amd full of water