What is the meaning of the underlined part?
What is the meaning of the underlined part?
The passage below is from Jellyfish Age Backwards by Nicklas Brendborg.
If the tiny jellyfish is stressed – for example, by hunger or sudden temperature changes in the water – something strange happens: it reverts from its adult form back to something called the polyp stage. This is akin to a butterfly turning back into a caterpillar, or to you having a stressful day at work and deciding to revert back to being a kindergartner again.
When Turritopsis returns to its polyp stage, it is in fact ageing backwards. Afterwards, it can grow up anew with no physiological recollection of having been older. To make this Benjamin Button-esque trick even more impressive, research suggests that Turritopsis can repeat its rejuvenation again and again. Obviously, being a tiny jellyfish in a huge ocean means that Turritopsis doesn’t live forever in the wild. Eventually, something will eat it. However, it’s quite possible that it could live forever in the safety of a laboratory. Turritopsis may well be an example of the holy grail of ageing research – biological immortality.
The passage is about the tiny jellyfish Turritopsis, which is famous for its ability to age backward.
Here, I am having difficulty in figuring out its meaning.
Does it say that the tiny jellyfish goes back to its adult form when conditions are back to normal without showing any trace of its having been older?
Am I right?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Stenka25 Does it say that the tiny jellyfish goes back to its adult form when conditions are back to normal without showing any trace of its having been older? That's how I read it, but the writer is being as clear as mud. "Physiological recollection" is a fanciful coinage that needs a lot of explaining.
- Stenka25 Does it say that the tiny jellyfish goes back to its adult form when conditions are back to normal without showing any trace of its having been older?
- That's how I read it, but the writer is being as clear as mud.
- "Physiological recollection" is a fanciful coinage that needs a lot of explaining.
- I hope he goes on to do so.
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Stenka25Does it say that the tiny jellyfish goes back to its adult form when conditions are back to normal without showing any trace of its having been older?
That's how I read it, but the writer is being as clear as mud. "Physiological recollection" is a fanciful coinage that needs a lot of explaining. I hope he goes on to do so.
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