Brain parasites? Lethal ancient bacteria? Alien embryos that will gestate in his body and explode out of his chest? These are among the maladies people worried that rapper Ludacris could have suffered after he posted a video of himself on Instagram and TikTok drinking “fresh” water that had run off from an Alaskan glacier.
Funnily enough, the news comes just as researchers from Ohio State University found over 1,700 ancient viruses buried deep inside a glacier in Western China, most of which are brand-new discoveries. As soon as Ludacris posted the video online, people started flooding the comments telling them how much of a bad idea that was.
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He said as a “water snob” it was “the best-tasting water I’ve ever had in my life,” but that didn’t dissuade people from telling him that he might have drank giardia, a parasite that could lead to severe diarrhea and dehydration caused by drinking contaminated or untreated water.
Glacier runoff sure sounds like it qualifies as untreated and potentially contaminated—but a glacier expert from the University of Alaska named Martin Truffer said that Ludacris will be “totally fine” and admits to doing the same thing himself.
“That’s about the cleanest water you’ll ever get,” he said. He said the water Ludacris drank was safe because it hadn’t been exposed to any biological activity.
So, while you shouldn’t be drinking surface water from a stream or pond, Alaskan glacial water seems to be OK. But don’t take that as our medical advice. If you do it and get sick, blame the glacier expert.
After drinking the glacier water, Ludacris said, “I feel like Superman.” While we were all worried that we might lose an integral part of the Fast and Furious franchise, maybe he’s actually been gaining superpowers.
