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  • Scientists have discovered the secret to immortality! Turns out, all you have to do is be a jellyfish.

  • Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews - with yet more reason to be terrified of the ocean and its

  • mysterious, creepy inhabitants.

  • In 1988, scientists uncovered a species of jellyfish called Turritopsis dohrnii, that

  • can reverse its aging process, effectively making it immortal. Researchers are now studying

  • it - to see how it can do this, in hopes that someday - humans will be able to do the same.

  • The "immortal jellyfish" - as people call it - stays alive by regenerating into a polypwhich

  • is its earliest stage of lifeas it ages, or whenever it experiences illness or trauma.

  • It spends 3 days doing that, after which it eventually becomes an adult again.

  • This is one of the only known animals on earth capable of evading death in this manner, but

  • they're notoriously hard to study in captivity. To keep them alive in a laboratory environment,

  • they have to be continuously monitored - which is exactly what one scientist at Kyoto University

  • is doing.

  • Shin Kubota has devoted his life to studying these creatures, and has managed to keep an

  • entire colony of them alive in his lab - which requires intense dedication. He frequently

  • changes their water, feeds them tiny shrimp by hand, and the best part - "He even writes

  • karaoke songs about the jellyfish, which he performs wearing a jellyfish hat, after he's

  • done with his research for the day." He's become so famous for his quirky songs, that

  • he's basically become the Japanese equivalent of Bill Nye the Science Guy. He regularly

  • appears on national television, and his songs are available in karaoke machines all over

  • Japan.

  • Fame aside, though, his primary concern is still the immortal jellyfish. He says, "Out

  • of all the animals in the world, only they are able to reverse the aging process instead

  • of dying." And as such, it's impossible to determine their lifespan. According to him,

  • "They might live forever."

  • What's interesting is that even though the jellyfish are extremely primitive, they share

  • more genetic data with humans than they do with insects or worms. Which means if we can

  • figure out how they're able to reverse their aging process, then theoretically - that knowledge

  • could be applied to humans.

  • Naturally, some scientists are skeptical about that - but at the very least, Kubota hopes

  • to be able to extend our fixed lifespan by closely studying these creatures. And he says

  • it's only a matter of time - a few years, maybe a decade or two - before we solve the

  • mystery of its immortality.

  • And hey - if you wanna see more weird facts about animals, go check out Animalist's new

  • show, Best Breed Ever! It tells you everything you wanna know - and some stuff you didn't

  • - about your favorite types of dogs. FOR EXAMPLE: Did you know that two Pomeranians are called

  • a puff? And three are called a tuft? I didn't think they could get any more adorable, but

  • they have. There are new episodes are every Wednesday and Friday, so go check those out.

  • And in the meantime, if you have questions, comments, anything you wanna say about this

  • episode - leave em in the comments below. Otherwise, thanks for watching!

Scientists have discovered the secret to immortality! Turns out, all you have to do is be a jellyfish.

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