Poison vs. venom: What's the difference? - Rose Eveleth

Would you rather be bitten by a venomous rattlesnake or touch a poisonous dart frog? While both of these animals are capable of doing some serious damage to the human body, they deliver their dangerous toxins in different ways. Rose Eveleth sheds light on the distinction between poison and venom (and why you shouldn't treat either one like you've seen in the movies).

Lesson by Rose Eveleth, animation by TED-Ed.

[TheGeremy]

"20-80% of snake bites are dry bites."
THAT"S A VERY LARGE MARGIN!

[DiFFSkyns]

3:30 I told the doctor I was poisoned by a viper. We both laugh. I died.

[PhillipAmthor]

Death: ok snake what do you want poisenous or venomous?
Asian Tiger Snake:

[sonder]

The way they design these videos is highly efficient. Informative and humorous.

[dodec]

0:42 "Between 20% and 80%". Wow. Informative.

[DJcMugaba]

To make it simple:

If you bite it and die = Poison
If it bites you and you die = Venom

[hobolobo]

Ted-Ed: 'if the poison reaches your heart, you die.'

Also Ted-Ed: 'Scorpion venom might one day be used for heart disease'.

[ferenctot]

In Hungarian
Poison = méreg
Venom = méreg
And yeah... cool

[zukasasteam]

20 to 80 percent are so called dry bites

wanna get more presice? 0 to 100 percent would be optimal

[jaydmatacarita]

The internet told me not to listen to the internet.

[MrFFHN]

It was a nice touch to have the band logos to represent Poison and Venom

[asdfghjklzxcvbnmqv]

Nobody:

She:Dont believe what u saw on internet

[ButterflyScarlet]

I saw an easy way to remember this on tumblr: If it bites you, and you die, it's venomous. If you bite it and you die, it's poisonous.

[skytern]

I speak spanish.
Venom and Poison are the same word.
Fuck.

[phoenixgamergaming]

“POISONED BY A VIPER”
Wait, what do you say, “Venomed by a viper?”

[yigitkagandavulcu]

the fact that in thumbnail both poison and venom is represented by showing band logos of poison and venom makes me smile :D

[kimberlyyeokahyii]

For those wondering why you shouldn't panic,

I'll give a brief summation now.

Panic increases heart rate, blood mixed with toxins gets pumped faster around your body, hence its more dangerous.

And if you panic, you will have irrational, fear-driven thoughts and temporary memory loss.

Now, for the slightly more detailed explanation;-

Panic activates your body's fight or flight system, adrenaline and other hormones/enzymes gets activated and your heart pumps faster, so the toxins distributed around your body will be easier throughout your body, hence, less time taken for the full effect of the venom to take place. Therefore, you'll die or be severely injured before you get manage to get help

Plus, your thoughts will be panicked (duh) and irrational. You'll forget stuff easier, such as species/colour.

Basically, try to keep calm by taking deep breaths

[Dartnix]

"20% - 80%" no, not that accurate please.

[shira]

In German there is only 1 word for both. So "poisonous" and "venomous" are translated to the same word "giftig". That's why I do not understand the big deal about the differences in English. The noun in German is by the way "Gift". It could be "venom", as well as "poison". there is no difference. Nice example how information gets lost in translation or needs to be added.

[sketchbookmenace]

Okay but seriously I love the optimistic voice she narrates this with.