Is there really a creature in the world that can live forever? Where is the ultimate end of life? There is a creature that can survive in space, and if the end of the world comes, it will be the only creature on Earth that can survive. There is also a chance to restart life before dying. How do these amazing creatures do it? Please give the mavericks a thumbs up. Today, I will introduce you to five magical creatures from prehistory.
The first one is, the platypus. It was a magical creature that made Darwin's scalp tingle. Platypus are like monsters who have deliberately sewn a duck-billed beak on a beaver's body. Look closely at this mouth is exactly like a late-stage hard-wired set. The appearance was so bizarre that when the zoologist George first received the platypus specimen, he thought someone was playing a prank. An ugly duck beak was deliberately placed on the body of a beaver. But after a period of tugging, the stitched interface was never found, which made it believed that it was indeed a new species. Platypus appeared on Earth 25 million years ago. He still lives in Australia. In addition to its strange appearance, what is even more amazing is that the platypus is also an oviparous mammal. There are currently only two species of oviparous mammals in the world, one is the platypus and the other is the echidna, both of which live in Australia.
We know that mammals are almost always fetal, and the platypus guy not only lays eggs but also breastfeeds. It has no breasts but produces milk. There are 5 pairs of sex chromosomes in the platypus's body at the same time. Normal mammals have only one pair in their bodies, and he determines that most animals have only two sexes. Platypus, which has 5 pairs of sex chromosomes, could theoretically have 25 different sexes. Of course, this doesn't happen in reality. In addition, scientists have also found that the platypus genes are in. 80% belong to mammals, while the remaining 20% belong to non-mammalian combinations such as reptile birds. Genes for 83 different toxins have also been found in the bodies of male platypus. Includes genes for venomous snakes, lizards, spiders and poisonous fish. It was as if someone had deliberately put the animals that could secrete venom into the body of the platypus. Is the platypus really a creature that has been carefully designed and pieced together? The platypus doesn't even have a stomach, and he can only rely on electromagnetic induction to forage. After reading this, people really can't help but think about how he lived for such a long time, neither extinct nor evolved, leaving us with only endless reverie.
The second is, the horseshoe crab. He is an ultra-ancient creature. It appeared on Earth as early as 450 million years ago. At that time, there were not even dinosaurs and primitive fish on Earth. Horseshoe carried through volcanic eruptions and escaped planetary collisions. After experiencing 5 biological mass extinctions, he survived tenaciously, and maintained his most primitive appearance when he appeared in front of humans. The original one is like it's just set in. He is the only creature on Earth with blue blood. We know that the blood of almost all living things is red. Because it contains iron, oxidation turns red. The blood of the horseshoe crab contains a large number of copper ions. When it encounters oxygen, it turns blue. It is this distinctive blue blood that makes the horseshoe crab a hero of mankind, and it is also because of this blue blood that the horseshoe crab is almost extinct.
The horseshoe crab itself doesn't have any immune system, but his blue blood can trap bacteria, trap viruses, trap anything that might be harmful to the body. In other words, the blood of the horseshoe crab is the most powerful immune system, equivalent to a universal vaccine that can make the body invincible. After people discovered this ability of the horseshoe crab, they developed a horseshoe crab reagent that saved countless lives. People are currently studying how to make the blood of the horseshoe crab into a medicine to treat AIDS. However, the number of horseshoe crabs has plummeted and they are on the verge of extinction. The horseshoe crab is also a very romantic creature.
If a single horseshoe finds a partner, they will immediately stick together and never be separated no matter what happens. If the female is taken away, the male will not abandon it, and there will be no remorse for martyrdom. For this reason, the horseshoe crab is also known as the mandarin duck under the sea. Was there any very touching? Please help the leaders to pay attention, we continue to read.
The third is, tardigrades. It is a creature that can almost live forever. In 2017, Harvard and Oxford university jointly produced a result. If there is indeed an end to the world, the only living organism on Earth is the tardigrade. How good is this guy? Whether it is the Antarctic continent that is frozen in ice and snow for thousands of miles or the sahara desert that is extremely hot, whether it is Mount Everest, the roof of the world, or the Mariana Trench in the abyss under the sea, they are all there. Their survival temperatures ranged from a minimum of minus 273 degrees Celsius to a maximum of 151 degrees above zero. The most extreme environment on Earth can't kill tardigrades, but what about the space environment?
In order to find out how viable the tardigrades really are, in 2013, the European Space Agency put the tardigrades into a bottle with small holes and brought them into space. Tardigrades are continuously exposed to cosmic rays for up to ten days. After the researchers tested them, they were surprised to find that 68% of the tardigrades survived tenaciously. Isn't this guy really an undercover sent by aliens to Earth? Studies have shown that tardigrades can withstand 75,000 atmospheres. He also resists radiation that is 1,000 times more than human. Even nuclear radiation was not deadly to him. The reason is also because tardigrades have the function of repairing DNA damage on their own. And 17.5% of the genome of tardigrades is made up of foreign DNA. To use an inappropriate analogy, he added other people's genes to his own body, so that he gave himself a few more lives.
Once danger strikes, tardigrades will instantly put themselves into a state of suspended animation. No matter how dangerous you are outside, I'm dead anyway. This state of suspended animation can even last for hundreds of years. until the danger is lifted. Just give him a drop of water and you'll be resurrected immediately. Some leaders may have questions, what if there is no water? If there is no water, continue to pretend to be dead! That's why he called the Tardigrade. Some scientists have even published articles saying that tardigrades can survive asteroid impacts, supernova explosions and gamma-ray explosions, these devastating disasters. Isn't this the so-called "the sun doesn't explode, they don't hang"?
The fourth is that cyanobacteria, which people look so ordinary, turns out to be the oldest and most ubiquitous living fossil on Earth. As we all know, it has been 4.5 billion years since the Earth was created. These cyanobacteria have also lived for 2.2 billion years. It is no exaggeration to say that cyanobacteria are the first organisms on the planet to photosynthesize to produce oxygen. Humans can survive on Earth also thanks to cyanobacteria. Without cyanobacteria, there would be no vibrant earth today. It is even less likely that there are these higher organisms that depend on oxygen for their survival.
In our human eyes, sunlight is just light. In the eyes of cyanobacteria, these lights are photons. Chloroplasts devour photons one by one, converting them into energy. We can't see the whole process, but it happens all the time. This belongs to the category of microscopic quantum mechanics, and it can also be said that cyanobacteria are the first organisms to use quantum mechanics. What do you think? Isn't it very sci-fi feeling. Don't be too surprised. Our perception of the world is really only a little bit.
The fifth is the big brother who occupies the first place in the list of earth creatures immortality, the flat worm. The main reason for being able to dominate the first place is his terrifying regenerative ability. If you take a knife and chop it into 100 copies, it will thank you very much because you helped him copy 100 of himself. Each of these 100 servings will be re-grown into a complete flatworm. How much did that divide him to kill him? The current record for flatworm segments is 279. Each serving is less than 1 mm. And these 279 copies eventually grew into an individual exactly like the mother. Even memories are the same. This is the real sense of copying yourself. This condition is medically called full cloning. It is also the ultimate goal that all of us humanity pursue. If humans invented the technology of full cloning, what would the world look like?
So how long does a flatworm live? Morphologically, this guy is basically invincible. When his life is nearing its end, it will automatically cut itself off and become two small individuals, starting a new life course. Thus, theoretically, he has no lifespan. The main reason why flatworm has such a powerful regenerative ability is because his whole body is full of totipotent stem cells. The most powerful thing about this cell is that it can become any cell. In layman's terms, if you lack arms, you will have long arms, and if you lack legs, you will have long legs. So is he really unable to die anyway? Not really, you just have to squash him with one finger. Another way is to secretly cut him into two pieces while he is eating, and the digestive juices it secretes will corrode itself.
In order to further explore the limits of flat worm life, Stanford University in the United States put a cut flat worm into spacecraft in 2015. As a result, after a month, this guy not only did not die but also produced a genetic mutation. Where the head should be long, there are not long heads, and where there should be no long head, several heads have grown. Very scary.
There are many more amazing creatures in this world, and the world known to mankind is only the tip of the iceberg. People invented boats when they saw fish, airplanes when they saw birds, and radar when they saw bats. So living things are human teachers. We have to learn from them with an open mind. If one day, we can have the blood trapped by the virus like a horseshoe, a body that photosynthesizes like a plant, and the ability to repair itself like a tardigrade. He even has the ability to clone himself like a flatworm. At that time, we may really be able to conquer the entire universe. Do you think we'll have those capabilities in the future? Feel free to leave a message in the comments section. Okay, today's content is over, if you like it, don't forget to like the comments and pay attention to the forward, we will see you in the next issue.