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9:28 am
April 25, 2011
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Nosfer
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Josh never found it, the RCS almost discovered it, but now, you can see it in all it's glory. Yeah, it figures SciFi would be behind this one.
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04…..rt-killer/
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9:50 am
April 25, 2011
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HollyDolly
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Yeah it figures. FATE magazine once ran an article about the creature. I think it's just some mythical creature
made up to scare kids into behaving. If there was such a thing in the Mongolian Desert, there why aren't there any in the american southwest or in the sahara in Africa? And by the way, does anyone know how far back these stories go? Have these researchers bothered to check against ancient chinese records or ancient records of other peoples the mongols had contact with which might record their customs and beliefs?
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11:29 am
April 25, 2011
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Revenant
| | Hopelessly Locked In A "Fear Cage" | |
| Lead Investigator | posts 1393 |
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HollyDolly said:
Yeah it figures. FATE magazine once ran an article about the creature. I think it's just some mythical creature made up to scare kids into behaving. If there was such a thing in the Mongolian Desert, there why aren't there any in the american southwest or in the sahara in Africa? And by the way, does anyone know how far back these stories go? Have these researchers bothered to check against ancient chinese records or ancient records of other peoples the mongols had contact with which might record their customs and beliefs?
Is the MDW (Mongolian Death Worm) a mythical creature? Hmmm…in its current version…poisonous and having some sort of electrical shock…yeah, that's pushing me a bit. Those are two very aggressive traits. Whether for defensive measures or used for hunting…both of those traits…on a worm? Definitely pushing me.
Could the MDW be based upon an unknown creature? I don't want to throw this one out completely. Lose the poison and shock ability and you have a pretty sizable creature that lives in the sand. The Giant Beach Worm in Australia has some good length. There are also some very odd looking worms and insects that live in sand. So…beyond the funny and horrific stories about the feared MDW…I would be very uncomfortable saying "no" to the possibility.
Have researchers bothered to check ancient records? Well…whether there is story about a worm from two thousand years ago or two weeks ago…a story without physical evidence is…just a story. But I know what you're getting at HollyDolly. I found a surprising decent article over at AOL (who knew?):
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04…..test=faces
It contains many decent links. You'll also find a link to a website about Roy Chapman Andrews. I'm guessing he did his due-diligence and checked various older records, stories, oral traditions, and whatever else.
Ok…so…there you go. 
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"Skepticism is not a position, it's a process." -Dr Michael Shermer
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11:43 am
April 25, 2011
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Nosfer
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Post edited 2:10 pm – April 25, 2011 by Nosfer
Revenant said:
I found a surprising decent article over at AOL (who knew?):
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04…..test=faces
It contains many decent links. You'll also find a link to a website about Roy Chapman Andrews. I'm guessing he did his due-diligence and checked various older records, stories, oral traditions, and whatever else.
That wouldn't be the link that started all this would it? 
Since some creatures are capable of their own "electricity" there is at least precedence so no, I wouldn't dismiss it completely out of hand.
Edited:l As for both of those traits, though not on a worm, they do exist
simultaneously in some species of fish, notably the Stargazers for one:
http://www.fishbase.org/summar…..hp?id=1779
http://rucool.marine.rutgers.e…..gazer.html
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2:24 pm
April 25, 2011
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Learjet
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| Lead Investigator | posts 1119 |
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Revenant said:
…. The Giant Beach Worm in Australia has some good length.
What the… That's a new one on me.
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2:34 pm
April 25, 2011
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Axel Olrik
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Post edited 2:35 pm – April 25, 2011 by Axel Olrik
I think that most of the animals that use electricity "intentionally" do so for both predation and defense. And that they are all aquatic…since water is an excellent conductor. Sand, not so much. So I would personally doubt an Mongolian Death Worm that used electricity…seems an odd thing to develop in such an unsupportive environment.
But that there may be something unknown to the scientific community that lives in the sands of Mongolia…seems probable. Legless lizards frequently look pretty "wormy". We have them around here and the only way I can easily distinguish them from earthworms is by their energetic thrashing when I disturb them.
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2:54 pm
April 25, 2011
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blinddog
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Think this calls for a lawsuit.
Quite obviously this movie is based on the RCS expedition.
We could use the cash, certainly after alicat and oubliette maxed out the cards on our last quest.
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Double tap to the head. Don't become Undead.
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3:23 pm
April 25, 2011
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Nosfer
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Post edited 3:25 pm – April 25, 2011 by Nosfer
I'm sure the term "worm" is used rather loosely, too. Translations and all being what they are…
There ARE poisonous worms, though, and if you consider the glowworm… Although that is strictly for display and does not use it to zap anything that I'm aware of.
The echidna is not aquatic, but does use electricty intentionally, though not for stunning it's prey…rather for finding it.
What about humans? I can generate electricity and use it at close range completely out of the water and in a dry environment. In fact, dry desert air might be quite useful for this. Yes, I'm talking about building up a charge (think dragging feet on carpet) and then discharging said charge…
Wonder what type of static buildup something like a creature that spends it's time dragging it's bulk around would be capable of? Just some food for thought.
Edited: And after we lost the deposit on the bus!
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4:39 pm
April 25, 2011
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Revenant
| | Hopelessly Locked In A "Fear Cage" | |
| Lead Investigator | posts 1393 |
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Nosfer said:
That wouldn't be the link that started all this would it?
Since some creatures are capable of their own "electricity" there is at least precedence so no, I wouldn't dismiss it completely out of hand.
Edited:l As for both of those traits, though not on a worm, they do exist
simultaneously in some species of fish, notably the Stargazers for one:
http://www.fishbase.org/summar…..hp?id=1779
http://rucool.marine.rutgers.e…..gazer.html
First…sorry about the link thing. I had about seven pages up and was going to go with a Nat-Geo page, changed my mind, went back to the AOL one and then forgot that that was the original one.
As for the electricity combined with poison, I just kind of glossed over it. In another post, you mentioned the glowworm. I'll give you points for it…but…according to the stories, we're looking for enough juice to knock down a grown man. I'm doubting that for a creature that calls the sand its home. Aquatic animals? Sure…as Axel said, water is a great conductor.
And then combine that with the poison. Are some worms poisonous? Sure. Do they "spit" the poison at their victim and is it toxic enough to kill a grown man? Again, doubtful. I'm not an expert on worms, but I believe that when you say "worms ARE poisonous"…does that mean "spitting," contact (you must physically touch the worm) or does that include ingestion as well? Eating MDW's? Maybe not on the typical Mongolian BBQ menu.
So are we arguing the degree of this supposed electrical shock combined with spitting lethal poison or can we just sort of put those on the back-burner and argue the possibility of a real creature being behind the MDW? Don't get me wrong…I can talk about Stargazers and fun with static electricity all day…but…I'm not sure if I can make the jump with those things to the MDW. I'm barely on board with a desert worm. Giving it thunder bolts and a squirt gun filled with arsenic…yeah…might as well go all out, give it some fire and wings and just call it a dragon…
Learjet…one day my friend…one day…I shall finally make it to Australia. And when I do…we can go out check out some Giant Beach Worms. We'll also check out a thylacine too…we just won't tell anyone… 
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"Skepticism is not a position, it's a process." -Dr Michael Shermer
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5:13 pm
April 25, 2011
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Nosfer
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Post edited 5:14 pm – April 25, 2011 by Nosfer
I'm going mostly with putting forward that the precendent has been set for animals that can do these various things. Scale is an issue as far as land animals and electricity, though a dry climate is good for things like the static discharge.
As we know, spitting of poison (though not by annelidae) is possible. Is it really poison or is it maybe an acid which is also something that is spit by various creatures? Given it's reported size, we are obviously not dealing with a garden-variety "worm" which is why I commented on terms and translations above.
Glowworm, yeah, not used for shocking anything but it does make use of electricity, as does (in ways not yet fully understood) the recently discovered hornet that is the first known animal to use photosynthesis–parts of its body are aptly described as solar cells. Far as we know, that's not for shocking anything, either…but we're still finding oddities of nature which is the real take-home here.
Deathworm? Who knows, I wouldn't be laying down any bets on it, but at this point I also don't see anything that would say "This can't exist because [insert reason]"
Edited: Yep, pesky formatting again! :)
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11:42 am
May 21, 2011
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Nosfer
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If this airs before the world ends, you can watch it today (21 May) on SciFi at 3 Eastern/1 Mountain.
"Mongolian Death Worms"
"A treasure hunter teams up with a humanitarian health official from the United Nations when an American oil company disturbs an ancient nest of giant killer worms while drilling for oil in the vast, unforgiving deserts of Mongolia."
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12:01 pm
May 21, 2011
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Axel Olrik
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| Investigator | posts 184 |
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