Don't Do That To It, You Know It Can't Live Without A Head

This segment of Educating Ricky was inspired by Ricky's sharing with Karl that cockroaches are capable of living without a head, a fact further explained in the 18 January 2003 installment of Do We Need 'Em?. Karl, relying on a Fortean Times piece, clarified the "myth" that after cutting a worm in half you would be left with two living worms. According to Karl, cutting a worm at a point more than half its length (measured from its head), will cause the larger portion to regrow the severed segments.

Some earthworms are capable of regenerating lost segments as a result of their simple circulatory system, <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/gardening_with_children/didyouknow_worms.shtml</ref> but regeneration is even greater among other worm species.<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planaria</ref> Karl's teaser title is generally correct, since earthworms are more likely to regrow a tail section than a head section. However, it has been reported that at least one species seems capable of anterior regeneration, i.e. growing a replacement 'head.'<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm</ref>

References

<references/>