I'm sorry, but this just boggles my mind.
Extracting venom from scorpions can be a dangerous, but rewarding, task.
The poisonous secretion, while fatal to humans, contains hundreds of components that have potential uses in the health sector when they are broken down to a molecular level.
In a bid to remove the venom safely, for both scorpion and extractor, a group of scientists in Morocco has developed a remote-controlled “milking machine,” which straps to the scorpion’s tail and uses an electric impulse to stimulate the venom glands for the poison to be released.
. . .
According to the researchers, the business of scorpion-milking can be lucrative. They said that a gram of venom can be sold for around $8,000, with venom from rarer scorpions selling for up to $12,000 per gram.
There's more at the link.
I can almost hear the job interview now:
"So, what exactly is it I'm going to be doing?"
"You're going to fit milking nozzles over the stingers of scorpions."
"You want me to put my hand up against a scorpion's stinger? Thanks, but no thanks!"
Peter
I had a friend who made her money working as a bat fluffer (think porn industry.)
ReplyDeleteYep. Electro-stimulating male bats to collect their output.
And who says you can't have fun at work.
(And, yes, we jerk friends used to make "zzzzzt" noises around her when she was being pissy just to watch her get more pissy. I did say the magic words "we jerk...")
This project opens up the possibility of making a deal with the native scorpions. "Keep your venom to yourself, and I won't sell you to the Moroccan scorpion milking farm."
ReplyDeleteWell, spider milking and snake milking are already common enough in certain labs. Why not scorpions?
ReplyDeleteYou're milking this article for all its worth, aren't you?
ReplyDeleteA while back, there was a professor at ASU working on scorpion anti-venom. He paid $1 per scorpion, and one homeless guy pulled himself out of poverty hunting scorpions in the desert with a UV light and grabbers. I felt sorry for the grad students that had to milk the scorpions!
ReplyDeleteThis is udder madness!
ReplyDeleteHas to beat milking a poisonous fish
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8yJkIuvPvM