Here is an amazing creature! Turritopsis nutricula is a hydrozoan, a jelly. They aren’t called jellyfish anymore, by the way. Now they are called jellies. Nom! Only I don’t want to eat this one on toast, I want scientists to study it. Why? Well, it’s basically immortal.
After it reaches sexual maturity, it can go through a process of transdifferentiation and transform mature cells back to young cells (polyps). Here’s one way to explain it:
Cell transdifferentiation is when the jellyfish “alters the differentiated state of the cell and transforms it into a new cell. In this process the medusa of the immortal jellyfish is transformed into the polyps of a new polyp colony. First, the umbrella reverts itself and then the tentacles and mesoglea get resorbed. The reverted medusa then attaches itself to the substrate by the end that had been at the opposite end of the umbrella and starts giving rise to new polyps to form the new colony. Theoretically, this process can go on infinitely, effectively rendering the jellyfish biologically immortal. (Wikipedia)
This little creature is about 4.5 mm in diameter (.18 inches). The red in the center is its large stomach. Young jellies have about 8 tentacles while adults have 80-90 tentacles. The picture shown below is actually a Turritopsis rubra from New Zealand which is closely related. They are very similar, but it’s not known if T. rubra can transform back into polyps.
The jelly originated in the Carribbean but now it’s found all over the world in temperate to tropical oceans. Because it’s basically immortal (if it doesn’t succumb to predation, etc), the numbers are spiking. They think it’s spreading by ships discharging ballast water in ports.
A bit more about their immortality: Read the rest of this entry »
My friend Brent sent me a link to a page on the web. It’s a conversation with Robert Sapolsky, a quiet, funny, apparently brilliant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky has written several books such as:
The link Brent sent me was called TOXO and he suggested it to me because our book club is reading The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture, by Daniel W Ray. Now the video on that page was Robert Sapolsky talking about a most interesting parasite called Toxoplasma. This is what pregnant women need to worry about, and why they avoid cats and cat feces. It can wreak havoc on their unborn baby’s nervous system.
If you read The God Virus, which talks about parasites and viruses as an analogy for religion, I highly recommend watching this video. If you aren’t going to read the book I still recommend the video. The transcript is underneath it too, which will make it even more accessible for you. But the video is longer than the transcript. So take 25 minutes and enjoy it. Here’s another link to the video. I’m telling you, it’s fascinating. As I mentioned, the video is longer than the transcript. He goes into telemeres and molecular age, which I heard a study about recently confirming what he is explaining.
What he’s talking about touches on evolution, common ancestors, parasites and how they go about getting where they need to be, motorcyclists and speed freaks, and schizophrenics, as well as the government’s interest in this parasite. A wild ride indeed! Read the rest of this entry »
Today I thought I’d share some books, movies and podcasts with you. Like anyone else, I love being entertained. I go through phases where I only read textbooks, then sometimes I only want fiction. I’ve noticed that even when I’m only reading fiction I still seem to always get something more from the book, though. Right now I’m in a fiction phase, pointedly ignoring the dozens of textbooks I have piling up. Yet I still want to share the good ones with you because they are much deeper than just a light read. I also thought it was high time to share my favorite podcasts and some great movies with you. What all these things have in common, aside from being entertaining, is that they are all enlightening too. Bonus! 
So let’s start with podcasts. A couple years ago I finally realized that even though most people love music, I don’t care for it much. I prefer listening to people talk about interesting or funny things. Most of the time when I’m working on the computer, I like it quiet. If I’m designing t-shirts, I listen to Ricky Gervais’ podcasts which are really funny and quirky. But whenever I clean or cook I like to have people talk to me. So I am always looking for great podcasts. I love learning interesting things, so most of these are science oriented.
My Favorite Podcasts:
- The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe: Intelligent, witty, always interesting. My favorite podcast. I look forward to the new episode every week. Great stuff!
- The Skeptics’ Guide 5×5: Only 5 minutes long, it briefly covers one topic. A good companion to the SGU.
- The Naked Scientists: British, intelligent and always chock full of science and interesting stuff.
- Ask the Naked Scientists: This is a podcast dedicated to answering any kind of science questions. They know just about everything. I always learn cool stuff here.
- Freethought Radio: I have taken a break from this one, but I still get them. I find them a bit overbearing sometimes, but when it comes to religion, it’s usually good to know what’s going on in the world. They are always talking about their billboard campaign though, which personally I think isn’t nearly as amazing as they do.
- Quirks & Quarks: A Canadian podcast about science. I find they have good interviews on new science before most other podcasts, but that might just be the schedule or something.
- Reasonable Doubts: I’m new to this podcast which a friend just told me about a month ago. He said, it’s the SGU but about religion instead of science. These three guys know their stuff and I get a lot out of each episode. It’s for people who don’t just take things on faith.
- Science Talk: Scientific American’s podcast. Quite enjoyable and educational.
- Ricky Gervais: His podcasts are pretty funny. He has an infectious laugh. I love his Guides To stuff. He and his friends Steve Merchant and the irrepressible Karl Pilkington are just perfect together. I literally laugh out loud sometimes.
- Breaking Science: I am just downloading all of the episodes of this podcast right this very minute. I found it while getting links for the other podcasts. It’s from the Naked Scientists, so I am sure I’ll like it.
Enlightening Movies I’ve Seen Recently: Read the rest of this entry »
First, Happy Birthday, Darwin! You don’t look a day over 70!
I found an article at New Scientist the other day. It’s called Born believers: How your brain creates god. I guess it makes sense, that humans create god by default. The research does not say that god exists, of course, only that creating religion is the path of least resistance. They also say that atheism will always be a tough sell and religion will never go away.
What I don’t like about the article is that it doesn’t have good links to all the studies that are referenced, some of which I haven’t found. But it’s a good overall general look at how several scientists are thinking about the mind and how humans create god. Read the rest of this entry »
I listen to several science/skeptical podcasts and like to browse the latest science headlines on Science Daily occassionally. I was searching for something the other day and came upon 2 news items that I find fascinating.
Atheists are often labeled as nihilistic, all doom and gloom, angry and miserable. But while I can be just as grumpy or unhappy as the next person, I like to revel in the beauty and complexity of the natural world. I find it awesome and inspiring. See? It’s totally reasonable to be a happy, moral and thoughtful person and be completely godless.
The first news report is from June 5, 2008. Humans Have TEN TIMES More Bacteria Than Human Cells. How amazing is that!? Only 10% of the cells in and on your body are human. The rest are bacteria. Now, before you grab that horrid antibacterial soap you insist on using, pay attention. Read the rest of this entry »
I read something the other day that was titled Atheistic Societies are Happy Societies. It’s based on a study by Phil Zuckerman and finds that the most organically atheistic countries in the world are better off.
The top 10 non-religious countries according to the study are:
- Sweden
- Vietnam
- Denmark
- Norway
- Japan
- Czech Republic
- Finland
- France
- South Korea
- Estonia
This is from the paper, from the site I was at: Read the rest of this entry »
Knowledge is power, my friends! A new study shows that when you lack control, you are more prone to see patterns in random images, or to see conspiracies and be superstitious.
Not long after I became an atheist, some personal stuff happened that made me really realize how little control I had in my life. Namely, I got in a car accident (some kid in his daddy’s car hit me while I was sitting at a light). Anyway, I didn’t have a god, religion or any other kind of magical fairy tales to pin the streak of bad luck I had. None of it was my fault, but bad stuff happened to me for a while.
I became rather superstitious. Unfortunately it’s taken me quite a few years to untangle myself from that crazy woo thinking. I still sometimes knock on wood when I say something bad. But now I remind myself that that is crazy woo thinking and I try to refrain from all superstitious behavior.
Here is a brief of the study:
