Scientists have discovered the secret to immortality!
Turns out, all you have to do is be a jellyfish.
Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - with yet more reason to be terrified of the ocean and its
mysterious, creepy inhabitants.
In 1988, scientists uncovered a species of jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii, that
can reverse its aging process, effectively making it immortal.
Researchers are now studying it - to see how it can do this, in hopes that someday - humans
will be able to do the same.
The "immortal jellyfish" - as people call it - stays alive by regenerating into a polyp—which
is its earliest stage of life—as it ages, or whenever it experiences illness or trauma.
It spends 3 days doing that, after which it eventually becomes an adult again.
This is one of the only known animals on earth capable of evading death in this manner, but
they're notoriously hard to study in captivity.
To keep them alive in a laboratory environment, they have to be continuously monitored - which
is exactly what one scientist at Kyoto University is doing.
Shin Kubota has devoted his life to studying these creatures, and has managed to keep an
entire colony of them alive in his lab - which requires intense dedication.
He frequently changes their water, feeds them tiny shrimp by hand, and the best part - "He
even writes karaoke songs about the jellyfish, which he performs wearing a jellyfish hat,
after he's done with his research for the day."
He's become so famous for his quirky songs, that he's basically become the Japanese equivalent
of Bill Nye the Science Guy.
He regularly appears on national television, and his songs are available in karaoke machines
all over Japan.
Fame aside, though, his primary concern is still the immortal jellyfish.
He says, "Out of all the animals in the world, only they are able to reverse the aging process
instead of dying."
And as such, it's impossible to determine their lifespan.
According to him, "They might live forever."
What's interesting is that even though the jellyfish are extremely primitive, they share
more genetic data with humans than they do with insects or worms.
Which means if we can figure out how they're able to reverse their aging process, then
theoretically - that knowledge could be applied to humans.
Naturally, some scientists are skeptical about that - but at the very least, Kubota hopes
to be able to extend our fixed lifespan by closely studying these creatures.
And he says it's only a matter of time - a few years, maybe a decade or two - before
we solve the mystery of its immortality.
And hey - if you wanna see more weird facts about animals, go check out Animalist's new
show, Best Breed Ever!
It tells you everything you wanna know - and some stuff you didn't - about your favorite
types of dogs.
FOR EXAMPLE: Did you know that two Pomeranians are called a puff?
And three are called a tuft?
I didn't think they could get any more adorable, but they have.
There are new episodes are every Wednesday and Friday, so go check those out.
And in the meantime, if you have questions, comments, anything you wanna say about this
episode - leave em in the comments below.
Otherwise, thanks for watching!