On: Doctors investigate mystery brain disease in Canad...

[jtdev]

Prions persist in soil for years; elk eat where other elk have deposited prions.

[spoonjim → jtdev]

Years? Oh jeez. The soil is covered with brain eating murder proteins?

[robbiep → spoonjim]

CWD was innoculated in a deer by insuflating prion bound with clay

[TheGallopedHigh → robbiep]

Insuflation: the act of blowing on or breathing on

[titanomachy → TheGallopedHigh]

In this case likely means inhalation through the nose

[Turing_Machine → titanomachy]

Yeah, the sense of smell is a basal one. The nasal cavity has bazillions of nerve endings that are almost directly wired to the brain.

That's why so many drugs are snorted. It works faster than just about anything else other than direct intravenous injection.

[robbiep → Turing_Machine]

That’s not at all why drugs work quickly through the nose - it has absolutely nothing to do with nerve endings, it has everything to do with a large surface area of mucus membranes allowing quick uptake into the venous system.

[Y_Y → TheGallopedHigh]

It's just a fancy form of the word "snuffle".