Jellyfish To Death: Fuck You! There’s Seriously An Immortal Species of Jellyfish

This thing doesn't die.

It’s amazing on a day when I had to tend my to Nana’s bowel movements and watch as she slowly gets older, my friend Andrew points me in the direction of immortal jellyfishes.

Via Yahoo Green:

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.

Seriously jellyfish, I fucking resent the shit out of you. My mortality has been weighing on me like a god damn lead cloak lately! My neck hurts from sleeping. My knees creak. And I’m only twenty-seven. I have no idea how old people put up with their rotting fleshbags. It’s beyond me. Maybe it’s because your mind begins going as well, and you’re barely cognizant of the fact that your arms look like loose bags of meat, your legs are discolored, and you’re on thirty-five pills just so you can’t even walk up a flight of stairs.

Oh, sorry for being a downer. It’s Friday, it’s sunny, have a good weekend!