There is this genuinely immortal jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii that lives forever. When threatened or damaged, it reverts to its primal form as a polyp and then regrows itself back into an adult jellyfish.
Nathanial Rich from the New York Times magazine has written a long and fascinating article about this rare phenomenon and the researchers who are looking into it. It was published in the Times on November 28, 2012.
Scientists themselves do not understand how this jellyfish ages in reverse. There aren’t many scientific experts on jellyfish. This particular creature is very hard to keep alive in a laboratory. But there is one Japanese scientist, Shin Kubota, who is able to keep these immortal jellyfish alive in his laboratory in Shirihama, a beach town in Japan.
Shirihama is a spot of natural beauty and curiousity that even includes natural saltwater hot springs. Kubota uses these springs and then heads off to the laboratory to take care of the rare jellyfish. He also writes papers for scientific journals, sings his own kareoke songs, and philosophizes about whether man is ready for immortality. He thinks we are smart enough to learn what these rare jellyfish are doing, but he wonders of the human spirit is still too violent and moody to embrace and profit from immortality.
It’s a fascinating story, found at this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Nathanial Rich from the New York Times magazine has written a long and fascinating article about this rare phenomenon and the researchers who are looking into it. It was published in the Times on November 28, 2012.
Scientists themselves do not understand how this jellyfish ages in reverse. There aren’t many scientific experts on jellyfish. This particular creature is very hard to keep alive in a laboratory. But there is one Japanese scientist, Shin Kubota, who is able to keep these immortal jellyfish alive in his laboratory in Shirihama, a beach town in Japan.
Shirihama is a spot of natural beauty and curiousity that even includes natural saltwater hot springs. Kubota uses these springs and then heads off to the laboratory to take care of the rare jellyfish. He also writes papers for scientific journals, sings his own kareoke songs, and philosophizes about whether man is ready for immortality. He thinks we are smart enough to learn what these rare jellyfish are doing, but he wonders of the human spirit is still too violent and moody to embrace and profit from immortality.
It’s a fascinating story, found at this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
No comments:
Post a Comment