jellyfish

A new study reveals jellyfish not only sleep but do so for the same portion of their day as humans, spending about one-third of the day sleeping. The findings also suggest that sleep evolved way before the brain to help maintain cells under stress.

A new species of jellyfish, named after a samurai warrior, has been identified off the coast of Japan and its discovery is more than just a biological curiosity. It reveals ocean currents changing and marine migration routes shifting.

Imagine being horribly maimed and the only way to survive was to merge your damaged flesh with another injured human. Scientists have discovered this startling ability in comb jellies, which can fuse together to share a nervous and digestive system.

If you want to gather climate-change data from the deep ocean, why not hitch a ride with an organism that's going down there anyways? That's the thinking which led to the creation of "biohybrid jellyfish" which pack two speed-boosting technologies.

An experimental new forensic spray allows latent fingerprints to be made visible in just 10 seconds, plus it doesn't require the use of any messy powders. What it does incorporate, however, is a glowing protein that's obtained from jellyfish.

Researchers have developed ultra-gentle robotic grippers that can grasp and release jellyfish and other very soft marine animals without harming them.

​The box jellyfish is the world's most venomous creature, with a sting from its trailing tentacles causing intense pain, necrosis of the skin, and in some cases death by cardiac arrest. Now, however, scientists have found an antidote for such stings – and it's an existing cholesterol-lowering drug.

Quick: What does a [insert sea creature here] like for lunch? Peanut butter and jellyfish sandwiches, of course. While you could insert sharks, swordfish and tuna in that joke, up until recently, you would have left penguins out because no one thought they ate jellyfish. Turns out, we've been wrong.

The mystery of why we sleep has perplexed scientists for decades, and evidence of sleep-like behavior has been seen in virtually every animal on the planet. A team recently discovered signs of sleep in jellyfish, the first ever identified in an animal without a central nervous system.

The jellyfish has experienced a population explosion in recent years, to the point that they sometimes have to be culled. It seems like a waste to just dump them, though. With that in mind, a scientist has developed a method of turning them into a potato chip-like food.​

They may look innocuous, but jellyfish can pack a serious sting. There has long been a debate whether it's best to treat jellyfish stings with heat or cold, and now a team from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa claims to have reached a definitive answer.

Researchers at the University of South Florida believe they have found the answer to how jellyfish and eels propel themselves so efficiently. Rather pushing against the water, the animals actually suck water toward them.​