ear damage?

[goom]

based on the (rather graphic) description of the yeerk's ear entry process:

• does anybody think that possible damage to the host could ever occur? maybe even deafness?
• would it be possible for otolaryngologists (ear/etc. doctors) to detect the yeerk's entry?
  (possible canal stretching, membrane tears)

with this in mind, i've been wondering if they might stick to one side, in case of this occuring.
(rather like the notable moth and ear mite relationship)

[spoiler]

Another very interesting fact was also emerging. That was
the difference in the use made of the recesses by the mites. In
other species of Dichrocheles the mites use one ear only and this
unilateral occupancy is the general rule. Here, in most of the
specimens examined so far, the rule seems to be bilateral infestation.
Unilateral infestation by the New World species is believed
to have been adopted for survival reasons as bilateral destruction
of the ears might mean that bats, especially, would be
able to catch the moths more easily. It has been suggested that
only those moths which have had but one ear used by the mites have
been caught by entonlologists, those moths with both ears full of
mites having been caught by bats. A series of laboratory tests.
have been carried out on I). phalaenodectes in live moths and the
actions closely watched. In alinost every case, the mites entered
one ear only and u>ed it for the rearing of colonies, leaving the
other undamaged.

[/spoiler]

any thoughts?
i know evolution designed yeerks for such a process, but i'm sure accidents could always occur.

[Chad32]

Realistically speaking, you can't get to the brain through the ear without tunnelling through the skull. It's probably the biggest plothole in the series, but I was willing to file that under willing suspension of disbelief. Of course I was already used to cartoons where something would enter one ear and out the other, so the idea wasn't unheard of.

I wonder if it would be possible for something more realistic. Like what if they got under the skin of a host's back, tapped into the spinal chord, and used electric pulses to control a host body? They wouldn't be able to sift through memories, but since the brain controls the body through electrical impulses it might be more realistic.

[Azguard]

 that sounds kinda like the Host...haha

[Chad32]

I've never seen the Host, but there was a Buffy episode where creatures from eggs latch onto your back and control you. Though I'm not sure if they mentioned electrical impulses.

[goom]

Realistically speaking, you can't get to the brain through the ear without tunnelling through the skull.might be more realistic.

yes, and i'm sure doctors would notice that.
i guess they had to make sure none would tell the tale?

[Azguard]

I've never seen the Host, but there was a Buffy episode where creatures from eggs latch onto your back and control you. Though I'm not sure if they mentioned electrical impulses.

oh, i meant the Host, the book, by Meyers.

[Skeleton]

What Chad28 said is pretty spot on, about the method of controlling being something of a plot hole. In addition, even if there were a direct path from the ear canal to the brain, I'm hard pressed to come up with an explanation of how a Yeerk could fit inside the skull. It's not like we have Yeerk-sized air bubbles inside our heads---all the available space is already taken up by the brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Your skull can't stretch either, so shoving something as big as a Yeerk in there would cause your brain to compress = massive hemorrhaging, apocalyptic strokes and death.

[Venom]

it was explained that yeerks stretch themselves out and flatten to fit into all the nooks and crannys of the brain, so no space under skull required

though maybe humans in animorphs have no skulls, that would solve both problems!!!!!

[Myitt]

that sounds kinda like the Host...haha

Yeah, I thought The Host had a bit more believable way of going about it--infesting through an incision in the back of the neck, and controlling the brain through very thin filaments projected along the nerves or whatever it was.

What Chad28 said is pretty spot on, about the method of controlling being something of a plot hole. In addition, even if there were a direct path from the ear canal to the brain, I'm hard pressed to come up with an explanation of how a Yeerk could fit inside the skull. It's not like we have Yeerk-sized air bubbles inside our heads---all the available space is already taken up by the brain and cerebrospinal fluid. Your skull can't stretch either, so shoving something as big as a Yeerk in there would cause your brain to compress = massive hemorrhaging, apocalyptic strokes and death.

Biology nerds yay!   I thought about this too when I took anatomy...there is just no way a Yeerk could get through the skull to the brain, not unless it went directly through bone...although I wonder if the auditory nerve canal might be another path?  And all that description about shuffling ear bones around in Visser...nope.  Just not good for the host, not good at all.  On top of that, yeah, there isn't a lot of space for a Yeerk to fit under the cranial dome, beneath the pia and dura mater layers of cranial membrane, and through the cerebrospinal fluid.  I think it's pretty safe to say that a host would die   But who knows, maybe the Yeerks can slowly make their way into the brain, and instantly spread themselves so paper thin that it's not much different from having a layer of plaque on your brain (ew?), like in Alzheimer's?  But then infestation would probably take hours, not minutes! 

In Stargate SG-1 the goa'uld infest through the back of the mouth or the back of the neck, which is sort of more believable too, but then again they have giant snake bodies with VERTEBRAE XD so it just sounds silly, too.

The Puppet Masters by Robert Heinlein had slugs on people's backs, too...Joss Whedon, stop stealing! XD

[INH]

In the books, yeerks are described as "stretching membrane thin" around the brain.  All this talk about yeerks squeezing through the ear and stretching around things makes me think that they must have the consistency of silly putty.  I know octopi can squeeze through ridiculously tight spaces, but this is a good deal beyond even that.

As far as ear damage goes, there doesn't seem to be any way for a yeerk to infest someone that wouldn't cause at least partial hearing loss.  At the very least, it would have to puncture the ear drum, and probably damage the ossicles (probably the bones referred to in Visser) as well.  If it went through the inner ear, it would almost certainly result in total hearing loss in that ear.  That said, it is possible to retain some hearing ability if the eardrum and/or ossicles are damaged, as long as the cochlea is intact, but I don't know how it would manage that.  Though the roof of the middle ear is very thin, so if the yeerk did go through the skull, that would be one of the easiest places to do it.

In any case, yeerk infestation would definitely leave damage visible to anyone looking in that ear.

[morfowt]

maybe that's another reason why there seems to be so many doctor/scientist controllers. after all, it's not like the yeerks need to know the secrets of our science (which ax described as hugely incorrect)

[Chad32]

That makes sense. Little Johnny is a controller for X reason. He goes for his routine ears eyes and nose checkup. The doctor says there's something odd about one of his ears and makes an appointment to have it thouroughly checked. The next day the doctor inexplicably calls in and says the future appointment won't be neseccary. Whatever was wrong should go away on its own. Johnny's parents are none the wiser. Yet.

[goom]

maybe that's another reason why there seems to be so many doctor/scientist controllers. after all, it's not like the yeerks need to know the secrets of our science (which ax described as hugely incorrect)

i can just imagine a controller going in for a checkup, plastic baggie in hand.

[Myitt]

maybe that's another reason why there seems to be so many doctor/scientist controllers. after all, it's not like the yeerks need to know the secrets of our science (which ax described as hugely incorrect)

i can just imagine a controller going in for a checkup, plastic baggie in hand.

Oh god, that just makes me think of the TV show, and the Yeerk thermoses x3

[Chad32]

What were Yeerk thermoses? Was it as bad as the yeerk-in-cellphones episode?