« False Economy, by Alan Beattie | Main | The Education of the Stoic »
Markets in everything, photographs only edition
Most folks never realize how cute microbes can be when expanded 1,000,000 times and then fashioned into cuddly plush. Until now, that is. Keep one on your desktop to remind yourself that there is an "invisible" universe out there filled with very small things that can do incredible damage to much bigger things. Then go and wash your hands. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Here is the web site. The options include human sperm, toxic mold, and, best of all, gangrene. If you read closely it seems you only get a picture, not the real thing.
I thank TheBrowser for the pointer.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on April 24, 2009 at 04:39 AM in Medicine | Permalink
Comments
I liked how they gave black and white cow spots to mad cow disease.
Posted by: Zamfir at Apr 24, 2009 5:32:34 AM
You definitely get a plush - I've seen them at my local comic book store.
Unless that was intended as sarcasm.
Posted by: Phill at Apr 24, 2009 6:08:21 AM
Are you saying that you think this is a hoax? Because they really sell these (but don't just take my word for it; search for "giant microbes"...)
ThinkGeek does have April Fool's catalog entries, but this isn't one! Here's one MR readers might like: http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/snuznluz.shtml
Posted by: Kat at Apr 24, 2009 6:16:09 AM
You get a plush microbe *and* a card with a microphotograph of the actual thing.
Posted by: Tino at Apr 24, 2009 7:11:13 AM
What you DON'T get, is the actual microbe, which in some of these cases should make you happy.
Posted by: PLW at Apr 24, 2009 7:45:53 AM
We got a couple of these (or a very similar competitor's product) at the Toronto Science Museum back in 2006. They're cute, and not nearly as crazy as the plush ten plagues of Egypt we got at our local grocery store after Passover a few years back...
Posted by: Sol at Apr 24, 2009 8:49:15 AM
I just ordered 3 Gummy Anatomical Hearts (http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/science/b689/). I think they make very sincere gifts. The hearts are on 20% discount, but the shipping costs $5.59.
Posted by: Yan at Apr 24, 2009 9:06:25 AM
Inspired, perhaps, by Moyashimon?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyashimon
Posted by: Philo at Apr 24, 2009 9:42:03 AM
Speaking of tiny things doing damage to much bigger things, who ever thought it would be the pigs who wipe us all out? Everyone was so busy watching the birds, they let the pig flu sneak up on us!
Posted by: Doug at Apr 24, 2009 1:56:23 PM
You definitely get a plush, not just pictures; I have the common cold sitting right by my desk, looking more adorable than it has any right to be.
Also, this is probably the nicest way ever to give syphilis to someone.
Posted by: Rob McC at Apr 24, 2009 5:18:26 PM
I have the common cold, too! Definitely a real product, although I don't remember getting a card with a photograph. It was a gift, so maybe it got tossed out with the packaging.
For individual pictures, go to www.giantmicrobes.com
Posted by: Lauren at Apr 24, 2009 5:53:35 PM
No, these things are real. I gave my wife mono a few years after I actually gave her mono.
Posted by: David at Apr 24, 2009 7:25:00 PM
"Also, this is probably the nicest way ever to give syphilis to someone."
I think you mean that this is the nicest way to HAVE syphilis. I think most people prefer the regular way of GETTING it. :)
Posted by: Jacqueline at Apr 24, 2009 8:51:12 PM
I bought two of these last year at a shop called "Pocket Monster" here in Canberra, Australia. I have the toxic mould and the T4 bacteriophage. The T4 bacteriophage is not shown on the website for some reason.
I got my periodic table tea mug at the same shop. This mug is in front of me as a type.
I also have a stuffed model pinworm, from a different source.
All a bit geeky, I suppose, but I AM a regulatory toxicologist.
Posted by: Julian at Apr 25, 2009 2:07:20 AM
You could buy some plushy organs here and have the microbes invade. Mad cow attacking a brain... now that's fun for all ages.
Posted by: Beth at Apr 26, 2009 2:30:19 PM
I just ordered 3 Gummy Anatomical Hearts I think they make very sincere gifts. The hearts are on 20% discount,
Posted by: SONY Laptop Battery at May 18, 2009 9:24:52 AM
