To box jellyfish carries enough venom to kill 60 people. Until now, there was no way to neutralize its deadly sting.
Scientists design ‘Pokéball’ that safely captures even the most delicate underwater creatures
Gotta catch em all!
In the future, we could be all snacking on jellyfish chips
Don’t be so quick to say no.
Common jellyfish is actually two distinct species
It took us 175 years to spot the difference.
You don’t need a brain to sleep, and we have snoozing jellyfish to prove it
Sleep could be as old as life itself.
Comb Jellies may have been the first animals ever
The debate isn’t over, but a comprehensive gene study suggests marine jellyfish were the first creatures to diverge. This distinction is commonly attributed to sponges.
Jellyfish degenerates into mucus parasite: another amazing quirk of evolution
This may be the first known case of simplification from a macro to a microorganism, a cheap trick which evolution likely used more than once though.
Moon Jellyfish morphs back into symmetry after losing limbs
A novel, previously unseen self-repair mechanism was reported by a team of researchers at Caltech who studied the moon jellyfish. A lot of animals, mostly invertebrates, grow back their lost limbs after these are bitten off by predators or lost in an accident. The moon jellyfish, however, employs a different tactic altogether: instead of expending a lot of energy to regrow its lost limb, the animal re-arranges the limbs it has left to regain symmetry. Even when it’s left with two limbs out of its initial eight, the jellyfish will still re-arrange itself. This sort of mechanism might prove extremely useful in designing self-repairing robots.
Comb jellies could be the earliest ancestors of all animals
With their eerie, translucent and soft bodies, their translucent and intricate shapes and bizarre bioluminescent displays, comb jellies are among the biggest beauties and mysteries in the oceans. Now, according to a biologist from Vanderbilt University, these delicate marine predators have another important story to tell about the origin of animals; a 550 million year old story. Comb jellies are
Developing a flying, jellyfish-like machine
It’s been previously shown that the jellyfish are the world’s most efficient swimmers, and researchers wanted to see if they could implement some of its features into a flying machine. New York University researchers have built a small vehicle whose flying motion resembles the movements of a jellyfish – possibly paving the way for small aerial robots which could be
Inevitable Invasion? The Coming of the Jellyfish
Healthy wildlife populations aren’t always good news. Sweden’s largest nuclear power plant had to be shut down for three weeks in September after a mass of jellyfish clogged its cooling water inlet. A swarm of baby jellyfish essentially destroyed Northern Ireland’s farmed-salmon population in 2008 through stings and oxygen deprivation. A Japanese trawler capsized in 2009 trying to pull its
Why a jellyfish is the ocean’s most efficient swimmer [with video]
Jellyfish are really impressive creatures, for all their simplicity; now, a new research has shown that the elastic body allows moon jellyfish to travel extra distance at no energy cost. The sockeye salmon is a sleek, muscular torpedo which rams up waterfalls. The jellyfish is a blob, drifting on aimlessly in the oceans. Obviously, the salmon is the more powerful
Synthetic jellyfish made from rat heart cells can swim like the real deal
A team led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and Harvard University have built this remarkable display of modern bioengineering – a completely engineered jellyfish that blends both living and non-living parts, masterfully fitted together. Called the medusoid, this cyborg jellyfish was created using silicone and muscle cells from a rat’s heart, and surprisingly, it can move
Robot jellyfish that runs on hydrogen can swim forever in the ocean
After a three year effort, researchers at Virginia Tech have successfully managed to create a silicone robot that functions underwater by mimicking the motion of a jellyfish. The robot can propel itself thanks to the heat-producing reactions catalyzed by its surface, and since it uses hydrogen and oxygen found in the water as fuel, the Robojelly can theoretically swim indefinitely in an ocean.
Leatherback turtles get sanctuary on US coast
Federal regulators have designated almost 42,000 square miles of ocean as critical habitat for the leatherback turtles, the largest turtles in the world; even though this is a much welcomed initiative, the surface is far, far less than environmentalists and biologists were expecting. A haven for turtles This protected area is the first of its kind in the US, providing
The deadliest creature in the world
So, microorganisms and other humans aside, what do you think is the deadliest creature in animal kingdom? A snake, perhaps a lion or bear, a scorpion perhaps? Neah, not even close. The deadliest creature in the world is actually called a sea wasp. Specialists use the term ‘deadliest’ when they refer to venomous creatures, that produce toxins that can be
Giant files: Nomura and Lion’s mane jellyfish
The Nomura Jellyfish Nomura Jellyfish are a large species of Japanese jellyfish, that seems to be giving them some big headaches. They can grow up to 2 meters in diameter and usually weigh over 200 kilograms, going up to 220 in numerous cases and they spawn in the seas between China and Japan, invading the Japanese shores for 4 years
