Parasitologist espouses using parasitic worms for treatment of autoimmune diseases – Dr. Joel Weinstock, at Tufts Medical Center in a commentary piece published in the journal Nature, describes work that he and colleagues have been involved in that focuses on studying the possibility of introducing parasitic worms into the guts of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's disease. The thinking he says, is that modern hygienic lifestyles may be contributing to such diseases and that reintroducing parasitic worms and perhaps certain bacteria into the gut may restore a natural balance in the gut and relieve patients of such symptoms as chronic diarrhea, bleeding and infections.

Source: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-p ...

The world's worst pain comes from bullet ant venom (shown above). According to Wikipedia, the pain caused by this insect's sting is purported to be greater than that of any other hymenopteran, and is ranked as the most painful according to the Schmidt sting pain index, given a '4+" rating, above the tarantula hawk wasp and, according to some victims, equal to being shot, hence the name of the insect. It is described as causing "waves of burning, throbbing, all-consuming pain that continues unabated for up to 24 hours'. The pain is immediate and unlike even the worst physical injuries where your brain eventually has enough of it and blocks out the signal from the offending body part, it does not let go for a good long while.

Want to see some ...

The largest aquatic insect in the world has been discovered in China, with a wingspan of 21 cm. And those enormous tusks? They're for mating.

Snail and slug earbuds. Looks like they are coming for your brains!

This is the Giant weta. Native to the small islands of New Zealand, it's one of the heaviest insects in the world - the largest on record weighed around 70 g.

Researchers studying a group of wedge-capped capuchin monkeys that live in tropical forests of central Venezuela have discovered that the monkeys protect themselves against the annual merciless onslaught of mosquitoes exactly as humans do: by rubbing themselves with mosquito repellent.

But while humans may reach desperately for spritzers or bottles or laughably overhyped ''protective'' skin-so-softeners, the capuchins have learned to poke around in tree bark or termite mounds to extract a wriggling specimen of Orthoporus dorsovittatus, a millipede rich with powerful defensive chemicals called benzoquinones.

The capuchin monkey will then proceed to anoint itself head to foot with the repellent secretions by massaging the four-inch-long millipe ...

After being bitten by the lone star tick, people in the US are experiencing severe allergic reactions to red meat - including hives, swelling, trouble breathing and vomiting. So pretty much every meat lover's worst nightmare.

The long-lasting search and debate around the size and identity of the world's smallest free-living insect seems to have now ended with the precise measurement and second record of the featherwing beetle species (Scydosella musawasensis). Described in 1999, representatives of this minute beetle have recently been retrieved once again from fungus in Colombia. The smallest individual measured the astounding 0.325 mm. ...