Thursday, March 18, 2010

The world's only immortal animal

This is a really short article, but I thought it was pretty interesting. I never knew the "fountain of youth" really existed. This is one unique jellyfish. However, this immortal jellyfish may cause environmental problems. Because they do not die, there is a high chance that they may overpopulate in the oceans. Maybe they might even become invasive species in the future.

2 comments:

prestonchan said...

I think they have already become an invasive species. In the article, it talked about how they have spread dramatically already. However, I think that we can use this jellyfish and learn how to increase our own longevity. Who knows, maybe we can even use it for a source of energy and negate its potential environmental problems. I really wonder how they can be killed.

The new Kevin (a.k.a Kevin Kwan) said...

Immortality =/= invincibility

No, just because they don't die of old age doesn't mean they'll live forever. There are a number of other ways to die. Most animals never live to die of old age anyways, so immortality won't make it an invasive species. Being eaten, washed ashore, getting sick, and starving are just some of the ways for even immortals to die.