justin0469 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/01/29/the-curious-case-of-the-immortal-jellyfish/The Curious Case of the Immortal JellyfishIt’s official: the only thing certain in this world is taxes. That’s because death, for a tiny sea creature, is not inevitable. Turritopsis nutricul, a jellyfish-like hydrazoan, is the only animal known to be potentially immortal.Once it reaches sexual maturity, Turritopsis looks like a tiny, transparent, many-tentacled parachute (only about 5mm in diameter) that floats freely in warm ocean waters. But when times get tough, Turritopsis can turn into a blob, anchor itself to a surface, and undergo a sort of reverse methamorphosis back to its youthful form as a stalk-like polyp. That’s like a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar. Scientists, who first described this phenomenon [pdf] in the 1990s, believe Turritopsis can repeat its life cycle indefinitely.The trick to Turritopsis‘ infinite do-overs is a process called transdifferentiation, which turns one type of cell into another. While other animals can undergo limited transdifferentiation to regenerate organs (salamandars can regrow limbs, for example), Turritopsi is the only one that can regenerate its entire body.Not surprisingly, the immortal Turritopsi are spreading. Native to the Caribbean oceans, Turritopsi have now been identified in waters near Spain, Italy, Japan, and the Atlantic side of Panama. Even though specimens from different locations have different numbers of tentacles (from 8 to 24), genetic tests confirm that they are of the same species. Researchers believe the creatures are criss-crossing the oceans by hitchhiking in the ballast tanks of large ships. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 Wow, thats really cool. Nice find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fusion Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 It's a plot to take over the world. Once there are enough of them they will join to form super Jelly fish that will destroy us all!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'03VstarSH Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 It's a plot to take over the world. Once there are enough of them they will join to form super Jelly fish that will destroy us all!!!!!!World domination, transformers, and total destruction. I'm down with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMRemaly Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 shit shit, fire z missles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarron77 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 holy crap....zombie jellyfish.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbot Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 looks familiar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarron77 Posted November 20, 2009 Report Share Posted November 20, 2009 lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.