Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

I've got some shocking news for you:
1) THERE'S MORE THAN ONE "IMMORTAL" JELLYFISH
2) The oldest jellies I know are NEARLY 100 YEARS & COUNTING
3) Scientists are studying if they live forever but there's one BIG problem...[a thread]
#DailyJelly
Vid: https://t.co/QnwxAM7krU https://t.co/tCw5stUnMT

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

First, there's THE "immortal" jellyfish: Turritopsis is the size of a bread crumb, and when it's hurt, it curls into a ball and transforms into a younger version of itself. Imagine if are injured and just TURN INTO A LITERAL BABY. Like that.
study: https://t.co/aZk9SXK7Uw https://t.co/ecl9Lb7Dw9

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

It does this through a series of very unattractive maneuvers, including transforming into a fleshy little mound and then growing new baby parts out of that mound. It would not be a good look for people. So once it's babied itself...
study: https://t.co/aZk9SXK7Uw https://t.co/zvpxwhgla4

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

Turritopsis can start its life over, literally! Most jellyfish lives go like this: Jellies make larvae that grow into little stumpy "ground jellies" aka polyps. Polyps make jellyfish, like flowers on a tree...Turritopsis goes from jelly BACK TO POLYP. Here's where it gets WILD... https://t.co/pxynaQ0QQC

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

Because IT'S NOT JUST TURRITOPSIS. But it must be some other random jelly you've never heard of right? Something living far away? NOPE: MOON JELLYFISH. The famous, see them everywhere MOON JELLYFISH CAN GO BACKWARDS, TOO. And they're not alone...
Study: https://t.co/Rwr6ZL75QL https://t.co/QHvsS3KPUv

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

In total, I know of AT LEAST four species that can pull this off. All in very different parts of the jellyfish family tree! But how long can they actually live, you ask? Well...
studies: https://t.co/XJOlO97Vj9, https://t.co/oBRQSBDBGL
Pic: https://t.co/c13hZaevNn https://t.co/lY2PDaUJlt

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

The oldest jellies I know of for sure have been living as polyps in a lab SINCE THE 1930s! In that time these polyps have lived through a world war, the rise of the internet, and literally gone to space...
Video: https://t.co/0fhejIUWEU

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

So We know jellies can reverse their life cycle and live for nearly 100 years and possibly longer. WHAT ELSE DO WE NEED?! I MEAN, that's immortality in a nutshell, right?!??! Well, not quite...
(p.s. article I wrote on space jellies) https://t.co/cpjPzCkaUX

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

See, aging and dying are two different things. And I think we can all agree that living forever would really suck if we also aged, too. And it turns out, there are lots of creatures that can *theoretically* still live forever, but still age. Like grass... https://t.co/Fwg69FTa5y

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

People were all like "OMG these grass patches have been around for hundreds of years. DO they live forever?!" And the answer is 'yeah kinda' except that they become more fragile. If you grow 100-year-old grass next to 1-year-old grass under the same stressful conditions...

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

The older grass will die sooner, it's just not as tough. In other words: it aged. It doesn't seem to have a clear end-of-life timeline, but aging is hard to fight. It just happens to cells as they live their celly life. But what does this have to do with jellies?...

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

"Immortal" jellyfish may age. They may grow old. They may live forever if we can keep them increasingly comfortable, but the ONLY way to know for sure is if we keep them FOREVER. It turns out, fundamentally, that only immortals can truly recognize other immortals. So...

Open Ocean Exploration @RebeccaRHelm · Jul 28

for the rest of us, we can look, wonder, and study. And let the mystery live on, literally. [end of thread]
Vid: https://t.co/QnwxAM7krU https://t.co/PMXu3CziiL