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Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

nature.com

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Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#11

Post by ihsw »

arturadib wrote: post #3

> We built an animal No they didn't. They built a sheet of biological material that pulsates when placed in an electrical field. Animals reproduce, and hence adapt and evolve. It's a neat gadget, but let's not get too carried away.

That is essentially what a jelly fish is.

To paraphrase another comment quoting wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system."

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#12

Post by woadwarrior01 »

user49598 wrote: post #6

On a somewhat related note, as far as animals go, jelly fish are nuts. I mean they're barely animals at all. From wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system". No brain? I mean come on. Jelly fish are floating piles of goo with absolutely no purpose or delight in life other…

From the wikipedia article you linked to: Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system, but employ a loose network of nerves, located in the epidermis, which is called a "nerve net".

Though they are brainless, they do have enough reflexes to get by.

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#13

Post by [deleted] »

ihsw wrote: post #11
arturadib wrote: post #3

> We built an animal No they didn't. They built a sheet of biological material that pulsates when placed in an electrical field. Animals reproduce, and hence adapt and evolve. It's a neat gadget, but let's not get too carried away.

That is essentially what a jelly fish is. To paraphrase another comment quoting wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system."

[deleted]

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#14

Post by apl »

user49598 wrote: post #6

On a somewhat related note, as far as animals go, jelly fish are nuts. I mean they're barely animals at all. From wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system". No brain? I mean come on. Jelly fish are floating piles of goo with absolutely no purpose or delight in life other…

  > Giant brainless animals roam the ocean looking to sting 
  > and absorb prey without ever really knowing they're even
  > doing it. They're pretty much ocean zombies.
They do lack central nervous systems, but they're not entirely brainless. There's a non-encephalized diffuse neural ring that controls effectors which is sensitive to sensors input. Eerily, some jellyfish (box jellyfish, IIRC) have corneal eyes...

So, sure, these things are super stereotyped. But so are many higher organisms, even among good ol' vertebrates.

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#15

Post by tincholio »

woadwarrior01 wrote: post #12
user49598 wrote: post #6

On a somewhat related note, as far as animals go, jelly fish are nuts. I mean they're barely animals at all. From wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system". No brain? I mean come on. Jelly fish are floating piles of goo with absolutely no purpose or delight in life other…

From the wikipedia article you linked to: Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system, but employ a loose network of nerves, located in the epidermis, which is called a "nerve net". Though they are brainless, they do have enough reflexes to get by.

> Though they are brainless, they do have enough reflexes to get by.

It's surprising how well this applies to some people, too...

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#17

Post by vibragiel »

user49598 wrote: post #6

On a somewhat related note, as far as animals go, jelly fish are nuts. I mean they're barely animals at all. From wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system". No brain? I mean come on. Jelly fish are floating piles of goo with absolutely no purpose or delight in life other…

  > They're nuts, and are a great example of how evolution cares
  > about nothing but survival.
Please don't mistake evolution for natural selection. Evolution does not "care" about survival, it's just genetic change of biological populations over time, and natural selection is just one of the processes that produce evolutionary change.

Also, putting the emphasis on survival when referring to natural selection is a bit outdated. Please say "natural selection cares about nothing but differential reproduction of genotypes" instead if you don't want to sound so nineteenth-century :-)

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#18

Post by sageikosa »

arturadib wrote: post #3

> We built an animal No they didn't. They built a sheet of biological material that pulsates when placed in an electrical field. Animals reproduce, and hence adapt and evolve. It's a neat gadget, but let's not get too carried away.

I tend to agree that asserting they created an animal is a bit of a stretch. The creature doesn't obtain or maintain its structure through internally-encoded genes, nor does it maintain its behavior through an internal stimulus response mechanism. Its structure is grown around a polymer film, and its behavior is completely externally driven. At best, they have created a cyborg jellyfish-like thing.

Re: Artificial jellyfish made from silicone and rat muscle (video)

#19

Post by user49598 »

vibragiel wrote: post #17
user49598 wrote: post #6

On a somewhat related note, as far as animals go, jelly fish are nuts. I mean they're barely animals at all. From wikipedia: "Most jellyfish do not have specialized digestive, osmoregulatory, central nervous, respiratory, or circulatory systems." and, "Jellyfish have no brain nor central nervous system". No brain? I mean come on. Jelly fish are floating piles of goo with absolutely no purpose or delight in life other…

> They're nuts, and are a great example of how evolution cares > about nothing but survival. Please don't mistake evolution for natural selection. Evolution does not "care" about survival, it's just genetic change of biological populations over time, and natural selection is just one of the processes that produce evolutionary change. Also, putting the emphasis on survival when referring to natural selection is a bit…

from wikipedia: "Evolution is any change across successive generations in the inherited characteristics of biological populations."

from me: "Evolution(clearly biological) cares (a cute way of saying is effected by) about nothing but survival." The personification of evolution was perhaps a bit too cute, but I feel it's also a bit more inspiring than getting specific. Also, I can't see much of a difference between surviving and being naturally selected.

Please let me know what I'm missing.

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