Any culture's religious ceremonies can seem strange to outsiders: For example, take the indigenous Zoque people of southern Mexico. To ask their gods for bountiful rains during the growing season they head to a sulfur cave where molly fish swim in the subterranean lake. They then toss in leaf bundles that contain a paste made from the mashed-up root of the Barbasco plant, which has a powerful anesthetic effect. When the stunned fish--which the Zoque people consider a gift from underworld gods--go belly-up, people scoop them from the water and bring them home for supper. This fishy protein helps them make it through until the harvest. This ritual came to the attention of scientists studying the molly fish, who wondered how the toxic root might be affecting fish populations in the caves. So evolutionary ecologist Michael Tobler and his colleagues did a little field research. From LiveScience:
"We learned about ...
