The Jellyfish That is Considered Immortal

There's a jellyfish that is considered immortal. That is biologically immortal.

Immortality is the dream of ancient mystics and futuristic transhumanists alike.

But for humans and most other animals on Earth, the promise of such longevity remains out of reach. 

That is, unless you are a jellyfish known scientifically as Turritopsis dohrnii, nicknamed the “immortal jellyfish.” 

Humans Have Been on Earth Very Short Time

Modern humans have been on Earth less than 0.01% of the planet’s existence.

The Earth has been around for a while, about one-third as long as the universe itself. By comparison, Homo sapiens are the new kids on the block. 

Earth’s story began at the outset of the Hadean eon, about 4.6 billion years ago. It took 600 million years just for the Earth’s crust to take shape.

Chickens are Among the Closest Living Relatives of the T. Rex

The end of the dinosaurs is often pictured as an apocalyptic event complete with a giant asteroid, a cataclysmic collision, and general fire and brimstone-type stuff. 

But the ends of biological epochs are rarely so cut-and-dried. 

In fact, the story of the dinosaurs didn’t even end on that unfortunate spring day 65 million years ago, because dinosaurs still live among us. We just call them birds.

The Appalachian mountains are older than the Atlantic Ocean

The Appalachian Mountains are older than the Atlantic Ocean.

The Appalachian Mountains aren’t the world’s largest mountains. 

And though they stretch from Canada to Alabama, they aren’t even the world’s longest (that honor goes to the mid-ocean ridge, a chain 40,389 miles long). 

The Only Animal With a True Chin

Humans are the only animals with true chins.

Humans have a few biological advantages compared to other species. The most obvious is our big brains, which have empowered us to become the dominant species on Earth. 

But another feature that is often overlooked is our chins — yes, we’re the only animals on Earth with true chins. 

Birds in Colombia

South America is known for its stunning avian diversity, with colorful toucans,  ubiquitous parrots, and an untold number of other feathered friends. 

There are new species of birds being discovered every year.

But no country in South America — or the world, for that matter — compares to Colombia. With around 1,900 bird species within its borders, the country hosts nearly 20% of all avian species in the world, which is more than any other nation.

Oceans Have Lakes and Rivers

The Earth’s oceans are just as dynamic a landscape as the bits of rock that peek above its surface. 

Our seas are home to the world’s longest mountain chain, its deepest trenches, and other impressive natural structures that boggle the mind. 

The ocean is even home to its own underwater lakes and rivers. When seawater seeps up from the seafloor, it mixes with the salt layers above and creates a depression in the seabed, where this heavy, dense, and briny mixture rests.

World's Smallest Flower

The world’s smallest flower is commonly found throughout North America (and the globe), but its bloom is so small, you may never catch a glimpse. 

Watermeal, aka various species of the genus Wolffia, is an aquatic plant that thrives in slow-moving ponds, marshes, and lakes; to the naked eye, clusters of watermeal can resemble a floating raft of algae. 

Under a microscope, it’s easier to see just how tiny individual watermeal plants are — they measure around 1/42 of an inch long and 1/85 of an inch wide, or about the size of a candy sprinkle. In fact, watermeal is so small that about 5,000 individual plants can fit inside a thimble.

Time Moves Faster at Higher Altitudes

Time seems like a simple enough concept — 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and so on. 

That is, except for a little something called “gravitational time dilation.” First explored in Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the idea is almost confusingly simple — the farther away you are from a massive object (e.g., a planet), the faster time travels. 

The more massive the object, the slower time travels, which is why things get very wonky around supermassive black holes like the one at the center of our galaxy. 

Smell of Rain

Humans love the smell of rain, a delicious medley of aromas known collectively as “petrichor.” But where does that smell come from? 

Well, the word itself (coined by Australian scientists in 1964) gives a clue. “Ichor” is the name for the fluid that forms the blood of the gods in Greek mythology, while “petros” in Greek means “stone” — which is one of the places this sweet-smelling chemistry happens. 

When rain hits porous soil and rocks after a long dry spell, small bacteria called actinobacteria (primarily Streptomyces species) release earthy-smelling organic compounds known as geosmin (a type of alcohol) into the air and into our nostrils.

Longest Nonstop Animal Flight

The animal kingdom is filled with amazing migrations. 

From the hordes of wildebeest stomping across the Serengeti to the lumbering blue whales along the Pacific Coast, seasonal journey sometimes thousands of miles long can be found in just about every ecosystem on Earth. 

But one animal stands out among the rest of these impressive travelers: the little-known and criminally underrated bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica). 

Preferring summers in Alaska and winters in Australia or New Zealand, these large, noisy sandpipers make an epic voyage twice a year. 

While it’s not the longest migration in the world overall, the bar-tailed godwit flies between its two travel destinations nonstop in a journey that can last 11 days or perhaps even longer.

Oysters Change Their Gender

Within 12 hours of their birth, oysters begin pulling calcium out of the water to create their signature shells. 

For the first few weeks of their lives, these newborn bivalves zoom around in a current until they eventually settle on some hard substrate, whether it’s a rock, pier, or another oyster. 

This place of protection is where the oysters will spend the rest of their lives (which can be as long as 20 years). Eventually, usually a year after birth, it’ll be time for the oysters to breed, and that’s where things get interesting.