Green | January 27, 2009 | 40 comments

Immortal jellyfish discovered

source: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?The_jellyfish_of_eternal_youth&in_article_id=504115...

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ClareW
The jelly-fish like creature turritopsis nutricula can rejuvenate itself over and over again, and so is, in effect, immortal.
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40 comments // Immortal jellyfish discovered

  • 24French
    • 0
      24French  

    • This is so Star Trek (the first series and Next Gen, before it got its sea legs). You have to admit, it would be kinda funny if we, the brain-heavy, go extinct and the era of the spineless, brainless jelly fish stretches on for eons and eons...well, to infinity.

    • 4 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
  • yaget1chance
  • librelover
    • 0
      librelover  

    • I don't think immortality would necessarily be a bad thing if we can learn to sustain ourselves off planet to avoid capacity issues. We would also need to learn patience in an extreme way. Existence on an indefinite timeline would likely bring about some creative ways to spend time. It would also kill the concept of time-value.

      Would the ability of the body to rejuvenate necessitate the elimination of death? Just because we can't die of old age doesn't mean we wouldn't be able to continue to kill each other through the destruction of the body. The body may be able to repair itself indefinitely with the reproduction of the cells, but if the brain is shut off and unable to continue said reproduction, then death would still follow. Destroying the brain would effectively kill a person. Even if you reproduced the person, you would not be able to reassemble their developed consciousness and therefore would not be able to effectively reassemble the same person. They may be genetically the same, but they would not be the same person. We are shaped by the experiences we have just as much as the genetics we have. The two are definitely not mutually exclusive. Without being able to have the experiences that developed said person's conscious being, they would be lacking a significant part of the reassembling process.

      Of course, this is all just a fun exercise of the imagination. Until anything indicates the possibility of a human translation of this ability, it is all fiction anyway.

    • 4 years ago
  • islek
    • 0
      islek  

    • I wonder if jellyfish marriages last forever then too?

      As a jellyfish, I don't think I'd mind living forever and regenerating throughout the ages. As a human, it would probably be enough to make me want to die. Ugh.

    • 4 years ago
  • Juas
  • VTJimO
  • petarro
  • yesindeed
  • jake9332
  • Ediblehearts
  • ColossalView
  • Hunnter
    • 0
      Hunnter  

    • I believe this is the 2nd creature now. (could be more, not sure)

      The first one was some weird plant-looking thing that regenerated itself too.
      Think it was on the ocean floor.

      Humanity + immortality would equal hell for this planet, unless everyone is immediately told not to procreate or be punished.
      To be honest, it already IS hell for most people... way too many people, damn Industrial Revolution!

    • 4 years ago
  • HereticHero
  • judiestar
  • Lazybones
  • JesseDeFrancesco400
  • crazy_french
  • Air1306
    • 0
      Air1306  

    • It really doesn't matter if jellyfish are immortal, we will never be.

      Our brains and bones start decaying after 40 years of age, which jellyfish don't.

      The "Jellyfish" kind of regeneration is like skin regeneration, which we always do already.

      Meaning, even if we ever do incorporate jellyfish DNA to ours, our brain and bones will never be able to handle "immortality".

    • 4 years ago
  • unimatrix0
  • Hunnter
    • 0
      Hunnter  
    • Air1306:

      Won't work. The download will be a copy.

      The only way to do a similar thing to this would be to replace each and every neuron, one-by-one, with an improved version. (immortality, etc)
      Then each of the old connections would need to be restored.

      The good thing about replacing them with customized versions is that they could be compacted more.
      The brain is a very wasteful area, a good deal of it being empty so there is room for expansion and rewiring. (also left over from the pruning process in early life)
      You could compact all the bits that aren't going to expand, then create an interface between the brain and an internal computer for memory (racetrack memory for instance, IBM)

      Still a long way off, nanobots need to be built, approved, then actually doing this to be approved...

    • 4 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • Image

    • I don't think man is ready for immortality.

      Then again, maybe we can all run around like Connor MacLeod and decapitate each other.

      In the end, there can be only one.

    • 4 years ago
  • andieviacurrent
  • idontknowww
    • 0
      idontknowww  

    • This is cool. But for all those people who want people to be immortal, think back to your worst memory and imagine living with it for hundreds of years.

    • 4 years ago
  • VitaminStolz
  • petarro
  • MRprez
    • 0
      MRprez  

    • That is an awesome jellyfish!!!! but honestly how humans treat this amazing planet i really don't hope that we become immortal

    • 4 years ago
  • blood77
  • VitaminStolz
  • This_Guy
  • 2muchinfo
  • ocanada
  • Eis4Epic
  • lj111
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  
    • lj111:

      I hope not. We were not intended to be immortal.

      Think of all the corruption and harm people could cause if they lived forever...

      It's bad enough people live nearly 3/4ths of a century.

    • 4 years ago
  • UWAZell
    • 0
      UWAZell  
    • lj111:

      I agree, humans are way to ignorant as a whole to live forever. That said, I would not complain about a few extra decades being added to the clock.

    • 4 years ago
  • blackIrish
  • DeliaTheArtist
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