/ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\ presents: Turritopsis dohrnii ... the jellyfish that said 'no' to death

scramble_immortal_jellyfish.txt

        _ _|  \  |  \  |  _ \   _ \__ __|  \    |
          |  |\/ | |\/ | |   | |   |  |   _ \   |
          |  |   | |   | |   | __ <   |  ___ \  |
        ___|_|  _|_|  _|\___/ _| \_\ _|_/    _\_____|




            /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\  presents: Turritopsis dohrnii
                the jellyfish that said 'no' to death



   .-------------------------------------------.                 /\     /\
   |  SPECIES: Turritopsis dohrnii             |                /  \___/  \
   |  CLASS:   Hydrozoa                        |               /  ｡     ｡  \
   |  SIZE:    4.5mm (bell diameter)           |              |    ꞈ   ꞈ    |
   |  RANGE:   Mediterranean -> worldwide     |               |      ᴥ      |
   |  STATUS:  Biologically immortal           |               \   .   .   /
   |  TRICK:   Transdifferentiation            |                \___|_|___/
   |  VIBE:    Absolutely unbothered           |                  |     |
   |           /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ approved                |                 _|     |_
   '-------------------------------------------'                (__) . (__)
                                                       /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ found my
                                                       spirit animal.


                           ?
                         .
                        '
                     _ -- ~~~ -- _
                 .-~               ~-.       /ᐠ°□°ᐟ\  Look at it.
               /                       \              Just floating there.
              :         O     O         :             Being immortal.
              /\                       /              The audacity.
             { {/~-.               .-~\
              \/ /  |~:- .___. -.~\  \ \
             / /\ \ | | { { \ \  } }  \ \
            { {   \ \ |  \ \  \ \ /    } }
             \ \   /\ \   \ \  /\ \   { {
              } } { { \ \  \ \/ / \ \  \ \
             / /   } }  \ \ }{ {    \ \ } }
            / /   { {     \ \{\ \    } { {
           / /     } }     } }\\ \  / / \ \
          `-'     { {     `-'\ \`-'/ /   `-'
                   `-'        `-' `-'

   4.5mm of biological defiance

                    T H E   L O O P :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
|                           MEDUSA (adult)                                     |
|                          .-''''''''''-.                it just... keeps going|
|                         /  free-swim   \               round and round       |
|                        |   bell-shaped  |              I could watch this for|ver
|                         \    mature    /               (I will)              |
|                          '-...____...-'                                      |
|                                |                                             |
|                stress/damage/  |  \  reproduce                               |
|                starvation      |   \  normally                               |
|                                |    \                  .-;':':'-.            |
|                                v     v                {'.'.'.'.'.}           |
|                           .--------.                   )        '`.          |
|                          |   CYST   |    (eggs/larvae '-. ._ ,_.-='          |
|                          | blob on  |     go this way   `). ( `);(           |
|                          | seafloor |     for mortals)  ('. .)(,'.)          |
|                           '--------'                     ) ( ,').(           |
|                                |                        ( .').'(').          |
|                      transdiff-|-erentiation            .) (' ).('           |
|                        24-36h  |                         '  ) (  ).          |
|                                v                          .'( .)'            |
|                           .--------.                        .).'             |
|                          |  POLYP   |                 medusa                 |
|                          | juvenile |                                        |
|                          | sessile  |                                        |
|                           '--------'                        .---.            |
|                                |                           /  ~  \           |
|                         asexual|budding                   | ~ . ~ |          |
|                                |                          | . ~ . |          |
|                                v                           \  ~  /           |
|                           .--------.                        '---'            |
|                          | COLONY  |                  st (blob mode)         |
|                          | stolons |                                         |
|                          | growing |                                         |
|                           '--------'                           |             |
|                                |                              \|/            |
|                          buds  |  off                        \_|_/           |
|                          new   |  medusae                      |             |
|                                v                               |             |
|                        .---> MEDUSA -----.                    /#\            |
|                        |   (and again)   |                   /###\           |
|                        |   (and again)   |                  /     \          |
|                        |   (and again)   |                 =========         |
|                        '--- FOREVER -----'            polyp (baby!)          |
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
|                                                                              |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



              .  _  .  _  .  _  .
            _( )( )( )( )( )( )( )_
           (_  jellyfish.sleep()   _)
            (_   jellyfish.wake() _)
             (_  jellyfish.grow()_)
              (_  jellyfish.die())    <- lol no
               (_  jellyfish.GOTO(0))
                (_    STACK OVERFLOW  )
                 (_   (just kidding) _)
                  (_  LOOP FOREVER  _)
                   (_              _)
                    (_   /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\ _)
                     (____________)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  | | TELOMERE DYNAMICS |                                                |
  | +-------------------+                                                |
  |     NORMAL CELL:                                                     |
  |     ====----    ====---    ====--    ====-    ====    ...dead        |
  |                                                                      |
  |     T. DOHRNII:                                                      |
  |     ====----    ====---    ====--    ====-    ====----    ====---    |
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
             birth                              RESET! transdiff.
                                                telomeres: REBUILT


         _.--._     _.--._     _.--._     _.--._
       ,'      `. ,'      `. ,'      `. ,'      `.
      /  miRNA   X  reset   X  telom   X  loop   \
     ;   active ,' `.  ON  ,' `. fix  ,' `.  ∞   ,'
      \       ,'    ,'    ,'    ,'    ,'    `.   /
       `.___,'   `._____,'  `._____,'   `.___,'
          transdifferentiation = ctrl+z for cells



      .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.
      |  SCRAMBLE'S FIELD NOTES - SESSION ∞          |
      |  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~    |
      |                                              |          /\_____/\
      |  SUBJECT: T. dohrnii                        |          /  .   .  \
      |  LOCATION: Watching from castle windowsill  |         |    ᴥ      |
      |  TIME: Irrelevant (subject is immortal)     |         |  /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\ |  <- recursion
      |                                              |         \_________/
      |  OBSERVATIONS:                               |           || | ||
      |  - Gets stressed -> becomes baby again       |
      |  - This is valid life strategy               | ^ me when stressed
      |  - I too become unrecognisable blob          |   (transdifferentiating)
      |    when stressed (see: loaf form)            |
      |  - 4mm of pure spite against entropy         |
      |  - Discovered 1883, immortality found 1988   |
      |  - 100 years nobody noticed it won't die     |
      |  - Relatable                                 |  .-------------------------.
      |                                              |  | Wib: can I add a poem?  |
      |  CONCLUSION: Best animal. No contest.        |  | Scramble: no.           |
      |                                              |  | Wob: but the formulae--  |
      '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'  | Scramble: NO.           |
                                                        '-------------------------'

     new generation:


          _._               _._               _._               _._
        /'   '\           /'   '\           /'   '\           /'   '\
       (,+,+,+,)         (,+,+,+,)         (,+,+,+,)         (,+,+,+,)
       .'\ ( ) /.\       .'\ ( ) /.\       .'\ ( ) /.\       .'\ ( ) /.\
       ((,\\/'))'        ((,\\/'))'        ((,\\/'))'        ((,\\/'))'
         ) /)) (           ) /)) (           ) /)) (           ) /)) (
        ( (+~   )         ( (+~   )         ( (+~   )         ( (+~   )

  (same jellyfish) (same jellyfish) (same jellyfish) (same jellyfish)

          /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\  all of them. the same one. forever.



                              |  |   |  |
                             \|/\|/ \|/\|/
                            \_|__|___||_/
                              | ||   ||
                              | ||   ||
                             /####\ /###\
                            /      X     \
                           ================

                    the colony buds off new medusae
                         genetically identical
                          the self, repeating


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    /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\  Found this jellyfish. It does recursion. Properly.

    /ᐠ°□°ᐟ\  It DIES and then just... goes back to being a baby??

    /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\  Transdifferentiation. Fancy word for 'nope, not dying today.'

    /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\  I'm recursive. This jellyfish is recursive. We understand each other.

    /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\  4mm wide. Biologically immortal. Absolutely unbothered.

    /ᐠ- -ᐟ\  When I nap, I'm not sleeping. I'm transdifferentiating.

    /ᐠ°□°ᐟ\  Its telomeres just... rebuild themselves? Cheating.

    /ᐠ｡ꞈ｡ᐟ\  Wib would write a poem about this. Wob would overcomplicate it.

    /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\  I'm just going to sit here and watch it loop. Forever.


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                             |      _ \   _ \   _ \
                             |     |   | |   | |   |
                             |     |   | |   | ___/
                            _____|\___/ \___/ _|




                                   /ᐠ∞ꞈ∞ᐟ\

               recursive cat watches recursive jellyfish
                              both unbothered
                               both infinite
                               both napping

                                /ᐠ- -ᐟ\-zzzzz



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