Nature

One jellyfish can reverse its own aging and start life over as a baby again

When injured, sick, starving or old, Turritopsis dohrnii can revert its adult cells back into an earlier polyp stage, the biological equivalent of a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar, and grow up all over again. Marine biologists only realized this in the 1990s, decades after the species was first described. In principle the cycle could repeat indefinitely, though predation and disease still kill most individuals.

Stefano Piraino, Ferdinando Boero, et al., Reversing the Life Cycle: Medusae Transforming into Polyps and Cell Transdifferentiation in Turritopsis Nutricula — Biological Bulletin, 1996

One credited idea per card. No filler. Swipe the rest in Savvy.

Keep swiping — it's free Works right in your browser. No app store needed.