You think the people at PETA will care if we study this guy?The world's only immortal animal
By Bryan Nelson, Mother Nature Network
Posted Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:57am PDT
Related topics: Animals, Nature
More from Guest Bloggers blog
The turritopsis nutricula species of jellyfish may be the only animal in the world to have truly discovered the fountain of youth.
Since it is capable of cycling from a mature adult stage to an immature polyp stage and back again, there may be no natural limit to its life span. Scientists say the hydrozoan jellyfish is the only known animal that can repeatedly turn back the hands of time and revert to its polyp state (its first stage of life).
The key lies in a process called transdifferentiation, where one type of cell is transformed into another type of cell. Some animals can undergo limited transdifferentiation and regenerate organs, such as salamanders, which can regrow limbs. Turritopsi nutricula, on the other hand, can regenerate its entire body over and over again. Researchers are studying the jellyfish to discover how it is able to reverse its aging process.
Because they are able to bypass death, the number of individuals is spiking. They're now found in oceans around the globe rather than just in their native Caribbean waters. "We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion," says Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute.
Bryan Nelson is a regular contributor to Mother Nature Network, where a version of this post originally appeared.
Immortal Animal Discovered
Moderator: Vraith
Immortal Animal Discovered
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Orlion
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Of course they would.... but then again would any one else care?
This is interesting... so it's essentially a phoenix but in jelly fish form?
This is interesting... so it's essentially a phoenix but in jelly fish form?
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Govern the reasoning creature, man.
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Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all!
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"All creation is a huge, ornate, imaginary, and unintended fiction; if it could be deciphered it would yield a single shocking word."
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Re: Immortal Animal Discovered
Fascinating bit of news.
Therein lies the rub, right?Because they are able to bypass death, the number of individuals is spiking.
I don't get it.Harbinger wrote:You think the people at PETA will care if we study this guy?
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Vraith
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Good thing they have tiny little memories...I mean, SURE, floating around on the waves, stinging people, having fish every night is fun, but eventually even that gets boring.
[spoiler]Sig-man, Libtard, Stupid piece of shit. change your text color to brown. Mr. Reliable, bullshit-slinging liarFucker-user.[/spoiler]
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
the difference between evidence and sources: whether they come from the horse's mouth or a horse's ass.
"Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."
the hyperbole is a beauty...for we are then allowed to say a little more than the truth...and language is more efficient when it goes beyond reality than when it stops short of it.
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aTOMiC
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This is a very interesting piece of news. It certainly fires my sci fi imagination, giving me a few nifty ideas.
I agree with Vraith. Imortality is probably comprised mainly of crushing boredom. Perhaps if humans were able to adapt themselves in a similar manner, since our brains would be renewed along with the rest of our bodies, it would give us a fresh perspective every hundred years or so. But hopefully retaining an awareness of our legacy memories.
Nah. Still sounds boring.
I agree with Vraith. Imortality is probably comprised mainly of crushing boredom. Perhaps if humans were able to adapt themselves in a similar manner, since our brains would be renewed along with the rest of our bodies, it would give us a fresh perspective every hundred years or so. But hopefully retaining an awareness of our legacy memories.
Nah. Still sounds boring.
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
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Agreed.Avatar wrote:Not a chance. If I could live forever without suffering the ravages of aging, I'd go for it in a second. The opportunity to see what happens next is too great to turn down.
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Waddley wrote:your Highness Sir Dr. Loredoctor, PhD, Esq, the Magnificent, First of his name, Second Cousin of Dragons, White-Gold-Plate Wielder!
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Loremaster wrote:Agreed.Avatar wrote:Not a chance. If I could live forever without suffering the ravages of aging, I'd go for it in a second. The opportunity to see what happens next is too great to turn down.
--A
I'm willing to bet a week's pay that after a thousand years or so we'd all be begging for someone to kill us.
So in a thousand years you guys better have $50 handy.
"If you can't tell the difference, what difference does it make?"
"There is tic and toc in atomic" - Neil Peart
Maybe they're immortal is because they can't reproduce. Not having sex in a thousand year would want you to go out and sting things.
and maybe they arn't try to sting things.
There are worse things than above.
Living a thousand years and never going to the bathroom.
and maybe they arn't try to sting things.
There are worse things than above.
Living a thousand years and never going to the bathroom.
What's this silver looking ring doing on my finger?
Y'all gotta watch "The Man From Earth".aTOMiC wrote:Loremaster wrote:Agreed.Avatar wrote:Not a chance. If I could live forever without suffering the ravages of aging, I'd go for it in a second. The opportunity to see what happens next is too great to turn down.
--A
I'm willing to bet a week's pay that after a thousand years or so we'd all be begging for someone to kill us.
So in a thousand years you guys better have $50 handy.
By the grace of God Almighty, and the pressures of the market place, the human race has civilized itself. It's a miracle. RW
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Damn, I'm only 46, and there's already days I get bored!Avatar wrote:Not a chance. If I could live forever without suffering the ravages of aging, I'd go for it in a second. The opportunity to see what happens next is too great to turn down.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest -Paul Simon