In Japan, jellyfish 6-ft wide are clogging fishing nets and power plant intakes. In Wisconsin, scientists are studying how jellyfish proteins might help treat Alzheimer’s disease. Across the world’s oceans, jellyfish could potentially help clean up plastics.
Could jellyfish play an essential role in the future of our planet - by destroying it or by saving it?
The term "jellyfish" is a slippery one.
Jellyfish Blooms and the Future of the Ocean
What Jellyfish Can Teach Us About the Oceans’ Future
https://therevelator.org/spineless-jellyfish/
Many jellies have evolved unique abilities
Brainless Creatures Can do Some Incredibly Smart Things
Brain Research Supports Drug Development From Jellyfish Protein
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061027183731.htm
Brains of simple sea animals could help cure neural disorders
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-nature-combjellies-idUSKBN0E123O20140521
Scientists believe jellyfish could help rid our waters of plastic waste
A gelatinous solution to plastic pollution
Can Jellyfish Unlock Secrets of Immortality?
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/magazine/can-a-jellyfish-unlock-the-secret-of-immortality.html
A surprising variety of sea creatures feed on jellyfish, and that their growing populations may not be so bad
Jellyfish can grow back into their juvenile stage when resources are scarce, reproduce in massive groups and kill an adult human. (Podcast)
Identify that Jelly
https://www.vims.edu/bayinfo/jellyfish/guide/index.php
Jellyfish 101 (Video from National Geographic)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z8ujpPgUjI
What species of jellyfish are you most interested in learning more about? Could they change the world as we know it?
Grand Challenge: Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet
ERC Grand Challenges: For project design, for inquiry, for activism
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