" ... it's an ugly planet .... a bug planet .... "

“ … It’s an ugly planet … a bug planet …. “
- quote by the reporter on the movie Starship Troopers, just before a bug kills him off.

Humans think they are the predominate critter on Earth.
But I say … it’s the bugs and the germs and viruses!
Earth is an ugly planet … a bug planet … and they rule!!

There are ‘only’ 6 billion humans on this planet. (I say ‘only’ because I’m comparing numbers of humans to numbers of bugs, germs, and viruses) We are poorly designed sacks of water and matter … and full of bugs and germs. We live on a planet of mostly water and some matter … and that is full of bugs and germs. Long before we were here .. and long after we kill ourselves off … the bugs and germs will still thrive.

- Full body - the skin supports about 1 trillion bacteria
- That bacteria contains hundreds of different species.
- Bunches of mites live on your eyelashes!
- 90 trillion or so microbes live in/on the average human body.
- When we ‘catch’ something like athletes foot .. that number rises.
- 500 species of bacteria live inside the human gut
- dental plaque - Streptococcus sanguis and S. mutans - multitudes of germs!
- Had chicken pox or the vaccination? Varicella-zoster is living in you.
- 99 types of human Rhino Virus ..
- There are 31,088 type of known cold virus in the world.
- Millions of viruses, 5,000 with detailed descriptions.
- More than 800,000 types of insects are known
- Up to 10,000 new bugs are discovered each year.
- Science estimates 10 million bug types are waiting to be discovered.
- Bugs survive radiation much better than humans.
- Germs and Viruses bring us to our knees.
- Bacteria have been here 3 billion years. How about humans?

So .. considering everything - I’m thinking Earth is a bug planet - not a human one!

Side note - if that’s true, then perhaps ET is bug-like and not interested in humans at all. Maybe they are more interested in their little bug earth cousins.

Discover Magazine – your body is a planet
How many germs are on your hands?
Eyelash Mites
Eyelash Bugs
RhinoVirus
how many types of cold virus
Virus
Insect facts
ABC – Bugs and radiation
Water bugs survive cold/vacuum of space
Nuclear News – Insects much more resistant to Ionising Radiation
Microorganism information
Planet of Bacteria

why don't you count the atoms and quarks and strings that make up those bacteria ? Its a far greater number

reply to post by FlyersFan


If you will excuse me, I'm going to take another shower now.
Thanks for that.

Originally posted by amaster
If you will excuse me, I'm going to take another shower now.

It won't help. There are billions living inside you. Estimated 3 pounds of them in your gut alone. You are full of living creatures ... tiny ones .. all going about their business. You are your own planet. But please enjoy your shower ... scrub and scrub ... the critters will still be there when you are done!

This is THEIR planet!

reply to post by FlyersFan


what about the big picture that the human body relies on these creatures as they rely on us and all the other animals viruses bugs, etc. bugs rule us? our poorly designed water sack of bodies actually utilize an innumerable amount of living organism to make our place in the world, it seems IMO we are the benevolent overlords of our bodies( even though everybody isnt "benevolent" when it comes to taking care of themselves ), now taking that over to a planetary point of view arent we as the bugs on our bodies serving to keep the larger organism alive? cool post dont get me wrong ( sorry i can sound like a downer ) i just think instead of dominion your post more reinforces the idea of the importance of insects in the symbiotic system of our environments! but cool post ill think twice before i kill that roach!

reply to post by POPtheKlEEN89


I'm with ya on that one, however to the average person this information can be shocking at first until you can accept the necessity of it all. We all do something to help, and hurt eachother. It's a give and take relationship and over time it can evolve to a very manageable and beneficial situation for all parties involved. Like the ones in your gut, you dont even notice them. We are still getting used to others like the manmade ones that have only recently entered into the biosphere, such as aids, and mutated strains of influenza and more recently, E. Coli. Great thread I like to be reminded of these type of harmony and conflict interactions between lifeforms.

I am now firmly of the opinion .. this is a bug planet. We are small in numbers compared to the bugs. We are weak compared to the bugs. They use us. They abuse us. They discard us. (and then some of them eat us after we are discarded). It's THEIR planet. We are just a food source and a home for them. They rule.