Attn: Aspiring Musicians: Here's a great idea for a band name. How about "The Immortal Jellyfish"?
Because there is one! And unlike us, he/she has the ability to face an imminent threat by just reverting to childhood and starting all over.
The only critter on God's green earth (or blue sea) who can do this is this little tiny jellyfish known technically as Turritopsis dohrnii. Turri, as they like to be called, hangs around in the Mediterranean Sea, where they were first spotted in the 1880s.
Now, don't confuse Turri with those giant globby jellyfish that attack unsuspecting beachgoers in the summer at Ocean City or Cape May. Turri measures a full 0.18 inches, which is about the size of the eraser on your pencil before you start doing your taxes.
They start out as a larva that drops from a fertilized egg. That larva is called a planula.
This will be on the test!
The planula swims around for a while and then joins A Cylindrical Colony Of Polyps (another free band name for you.) In a matter of weeks, the colony becomes a medusae, and gets a drivers license and a gym membership.
The great thing is, when the Turri has a problem - anything from starvation to a tuna picking on his bright red stomach - he/she can just revert to polyp status, and watching shrimp swim around the rest of the afternoon.
There seems to be no way that humans can get in on this cellular process, but medical research calls it transdifferentiation because stem cell research centers on finding ways to have the body replace damaged cells.
Another interesting aspect to the life of Turritopsis dohrnii: they are excellent hitchhikers! I mentioned hitchhiking to someone the other day as my primary means of getting around before I got a driver's license. Being young, this person could not relate to the practice of getting in a car driven by a stranger (except if it's an Uber). But Turri will swim into the ballast of a ship and sail around the world for free.
Don't be too envious, though. They don't have cable TV or reliable internet.
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