Freaky. According to the New York Post, Microscopic “nipple” mites may soon merge with their human hosts, living permanently inside us rather than on our skin and hair.
Scientists say the skin parasite demodex folliculorum lives on the hair follicles in human faces and nipples and feeds on the oils released from our pores. They're invisible to the naked eye, but they live on all of us, mating and reproducing exclusively at night since they have no UV protection. A recent study suggests that genetic changes are transforming them from external parasites to internal symbionts that would reside permanently within human bodies.
Check out the link above for more unsettling details, including info on the genitals these mites are working with, the scientific debate over their anuses, and the suggestion that they might be banging themselves into extinction.
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