6 There is a disease called “dracunculiasis” in which a parasitical worm, known as the “Guinea worm” will stay inside the lower part of the human leg. It would be unnoticeable for a complete year, but after that, it will tear a part of the skin to hatch the larvae and it will have become a meter long. 

The disease is also known as “Guinea-worm disease.” It is a water-borne disease and is generally caused by drinking contaminated water with guinea worm larvae.

The worst part of the disease is that it does not show any symptoms until one year. After that, the worm slowly starts penetrating the skin from inside t. By this time, the worm has become a meter long. Other symptoms are dizziness and vomiting. 

The disease rarely becomes the cause of the patient’s death, but when it becomes severe, it becomes extremely painful and difficult for the person to even walk. 

The only prevention is access to cleaner drinking water and early diagnosis since there are no medications or vaccines to cure it. (1, 2)

7 The cuddle of a cuddly koala can spread a sexually transmitted disease named “chlamydia.”

Researchers have found that half of the Australian koala population is infected with the disease. In close conditions, the numbers can go up to 80%. The major concern is humans can catch the koala version of chlamydia, and tourists do not have the slightest hint about it.

The disease is exceptionally fatal for the koala species. The infected koalas are in severe conditions and are ultimately dying. 

Controversies are going around the proposed solution to this situation that all the infected ones must be killed to stop the spreading of the disease and for the species to replenish, but the decision is not clear.

The discovery of the disease is surely disappointing, but it brings the possibility of vaccines for the disease, as the infected koalas can be tested with the vaccines. (1, 2)

8 The state of Colorado in the US has more ghost towns than actual municipalities. 

You would be very surprised to know that Colorado has over 1,500 ghost towns. Among them, only 640 such towns still exist. The rest of the towns are said to be literally abandoned by people. Most of these towns are abandoned because of one single reason which is unemployment.

When mines were closed down, mills stopped functioning, the number of tourists became low, coal ran out, and the railway changed its route, people of these towns systematically migrated to some other places. Another common reason for the abandonment is rural depopulation, i.e. rural people moving into big cities. 

Even the data on such findings is not clear. (source)

9 There are types of white blood cells named “B cells” which go through a spontaneous process during normal functioning and create cancerous cells every thirty minutes. Usually, our immune system is efficient enough to find these cells and neutralize them immediately. 

As a cure to stop the generation of tumors in our bodies, our immune system regularly keeps inspecting and kills these cancerous B cells.

The cause of such a thing is nothing but the normal functioning of the B cells and spontaneous mutations caused during their functioning processes. If the B cells transform into tumors, they become B cell lymphomas or non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. 

The cells that fight tumor cells and B cells are “T cells”. The discovery was made after running experiments on mice. When the T cells were disabled, the lymphomas increased. 

The findings can be useful to prevent cancer by detecting the rapid growth of tumors due to B cells as 19,000 people died in 2013 because of B cell lymphoma cancer. (1, 2) 

10 In the Victorian Era, taking photographs with dead relatives was not uncommon. In fact, it was considered a way to pay the last tribute to the dead and to console the grief.

The medical conditions in Victorian times were so poor that children dying before the age of five were considered normal. The majority of deaths were caused because of diseases such as typhus, cholera, and diphtheria. Photographs were taken with the deceased person, and the ritual was known as “memento mori” which literally means “remember you must die”. 

The photographs were taken with the dead person to have a permanent memory or the last permanent record of the person with the family.

In many developed photographs, eyes were drawn to make the deceased person appear more lively, and the dead person was also sometimes posed sleeping. The trend of death photography became popular in the 19th century as taking photographs became more affordable. 

Later, health conditions improved resulting in lesser demand for death photography. Memento mori was not limited to the UK. Such photographs were also found in Australia. (source)