Jellyfish Blooming
Attila John, Natalie Chang, Crescent Feng
Boneless, brainless, and bloodless. Made up of 95% water, jellyfish are able to withstand various extreme environments and are thriving in the face of climate change. Simple, unique, and elegant, but what makes these creatures so dangerous today?Where jellyfish develop in the vast ocean still remains a mystery, but the jellyfish lifecycle starts, like other creatures, with a fertilized egg. The egg then transforms into a planula and attaches itself to a surface, where it grows into a polyp. Growing the early stages of tentacle-like features, the polyp produces "buds". At a certain stage, buds begin to break away and float as individual immature medusas. Finally, the immature medusa develops into an adult medusa, or the jellyfish we admire today.
The simplicity of jellyfish creation may appear harmless. However, jellyfish are not limited by mating, and can procreate with just themselves. From just one jellyfish, many are created. With warming temperatures, more jellyfish have appeared in recent years, and as a result, jellyfish populations have been growing and gathering in larger groups than ever before.
This is called "blooming".
Bloomings negatively impact both marine ecosystems and human societies.In nature, jellyfish consume many nutritious microorganisms, yet being made up of mostly water, jellyfish do not provide many nutrients to predators. With jellyfish populations rising, less nutritious value through jellyfish and decrease of available microorganisms are entering the ecosystem, negatively impacting the overall marine environment.
Jellyfish also burrow during early growth stages, yet structures from human activity such as floating platforms provide the perfect place for polyps, a developing jellyfish, to grow. More detrimentally, bloomings clog fishing nets, obstruct power plant cooling intakes, and overall inhibit human activity in addition to disturbing the ecosystem.
Humans are likely not going stop their activity nor reverse climate change anytime soon, so what can we do?
Jellyfish are unique creatures, and how these ancient creatures function can allow us to transform the mitigation of the blooming beyond an unfortunate devastation.
For example, some researchers explore cnidocytes or nematocysts, cells that jellyfish use to deliver their stings. These cells enter through the skin, and rarely exceed 3% the size of a syringe needle, an incredibly small and non-invasive delivery system.
Other research highlights jellyfish themselves as a living filter or monitor in the ocean. Through their mucus, jellyfish can pick up nanoparticles like microplastics and potentially help clean up the ocean.
A final approach to jellyfish is utilizing them directly as a product. Returning jellyfish to the Earth as feed or fertilizer, an ingredient in cultural dishes, and even innovative tampons, are more ways to turn the blooming into a productive occurrence.
With these innovations, managing jellyfish bloomings would not only be able to restore the marine ecosystem and distribution of nutrients back into balance, but also allow the mitigation to be useful rather than a simple, terrible destruction.
Although the end of climate change is not within sight, jellyfish bloomings can become something as beautiful as the jellyfish themselves.
How to Save a Kakapo
Misha Oraa Ali, Anica Aguilar, Sander Moffit, Lizzie Brown
This bumbling, little creature is a kakapo! What is so special about this strange little bird? There are only 252kakapos alive today. In fact, there are so few that they are each individually named.They’re the only flightless parrot in the world and they live on a couple of remote islands in New Zealand. Kakapos are important to the indigenous Maori people of the area, and their name “kakapo” translates to night parrot in Maori.
According to author Douglas Adams, “If you peer into its large, round, greeny-brown face, it has a look of serenely innocent incomprehension that makes you want to hug it and tell it that everything will be all right, though you know it probably will not be.”
Why is the kakapo critically endangered?
Before people came, the kakapo did not have many natural predators. Colonization brought mammals that hunted the bird and almost eradicated it. To rehabilitate the dwindling population, conservation efforts have located and transported all kakapos to Codfish Island and Anchor Island. These islands have no mammalian predators - and the scientists work hard to keep it that way.
These predators aren’t the only challenge for kakapos - they can only successfully breed when they consume the fruit of the rimu tree, which only blooms once every two to five years. Scientists are still unsure of why - the exact relationship between the fruit and the kakapo is not well known.
Overall, the kakapo has been harshly affected by the consequences of human action, and their survival now relies on a dedicated effort by scientists and volunteers to conserve the species.
The Kakapo125+ project is one of the most important conservation efforts that scientists are carrying out today. Its aim is to sequence the genomes - or DNA - of all the living kakapos in order to help with our understanding things like infertility, disease and aging.
Even though all of these kakapos are the same species, they are not all identical when you look at their genetics. Within a species, there is usually a lot of variation in what genes individuals have, and how those genes are expressed.
It’s important for a species to have a diverse variety of genes, because when a new threat or disease comes along, certain genes may increase chances of survival.
JEM does not have a lot of genetic diversity, so when a new disease comes along, it doesn’t have the right genes and tools to fight it off. This second kakapo, Sinbad, however, is very genetically diverse, so it has a higher chance of having genes that allow it to survive new challenges. More diversity within the species increases the odds that some kakapos will be able to overcome unknown future obstacles.
Because there are so few kakapos left, scientists are concerned about maintaining whatever genetic diversity they can. Researchers have done tests to determine which kakapos are most genetically distinct from each other, and these kakapos will be the focus of future breeding efforts, in order to make the most genetically diverse babies possible.
Much of the science and research that has gone into saving the kakapo has benefitted other endangered birds!
Going from 40 kakapos to 252 within 30 years shows that with the help of volunteers and scientists, we can restore other critically endangered species. However, 252 is still too few - which means the fate of the kakapo lies in the hands of current and future generations.
So, what can YOU do to help the kakapo?
Adopt a kakapo project! Donate! Volunteer! Help is always needed, and an extra set of hands can mean another kakapo gets the attention it needs.
Lastly, you can tell people about kakapos and the importance of rehabilitating and conserving endangered species! The kakapo is an incredibly important bird to the Maori people of New Zealand and the scientific community as a whole. By working together, we can help each other and these wonderful birds experience the beauty of nature for many years to come.
What is Serotonin
Tzvi Kogan, Charles Collins, Yenteen Hu
TONYYou have to look at this puppy.
SARA
It’s adorable!
TONY
I know! This is my serotonin boost for the day.
SARA
People have been saying that a lot! But did you know it’s actually dopamine and your reward pathway making you feel good right now? Serotonin acts in a different way!
TONY
Ohh, I have heard about dopamine. What’s serotonin all about?
SARA
(smiles) In your brain, serotonin works with many different chemicals to help you feel generally happy. Outside of that, it does a bunch of other cool things as well!
Its official name is 5-hydroxytryptamine. We make it using tryptophan, an essential amino acid that we get through food.
Most of the serotonin we have is actually made in our gut and is circulating in our bodies as an endocrine hormone. It plays a critical role in regulating almost all our major organ systems.
TONY
Woah, and here I thought it was just a brain thing! Serotonin does all that??
SARA
We have receptors for it almost everywhere.
Serotonin in the brain is especially interesting.
Your brain synthesizes its own serotonin, where it acts in specific areas to modulate almost all of our behaviors. It also helps us regulate and process our emotions. When serotonin is functioning normally and at regular levels, our mood is generally more stable and we feel more content.
TONY
That’s awesome. How do we go from making serotonin to feeling those effects?
SARA
Great question!
Nerve impulses cause serotonin to be released from a neuron into the synaptic cleft. Here, serotonin binds and unbinds randomly with its main receptor 5HT1A, a G-protein coupled receptor.
Every time it binds, the complex undergoes a conformational change. This causes a series of downstream chemical reactions inside the receiving neuron. These cascades in specific areas of our brain are what allow us to experience the stabilizing effects of serotonin.
TONY
So it’s just spontaneously binding and releasing over and over?
SARA
Exactly! The more serotonin in the synapse, the more binding events and cascades there are, and the stronger the effects are for us.
The amount of serotonin in the synapse is affected by how much is produced, how much is released, and how quickly it is cleared from the space via reuptake.
TONY
As reuptake is occurring, there will be fewer serotonin molecules and binding events right?
SARA
You got it! Our brain needs a certain quantity of circulating serotonin in order to keep us neurologically and emotionally healthy.
There’s still a lot of research to be done here, but we do have some clues that serotonin is a key contributor to creating positive feelings and emotional stability.
TONY
That makes a lot of sense. I’ve also heard that low serotonin levels are associated with some mental health disorders, right?
SARA
Current evidence does show us that lower levels of serotonin can be observed in some mental health patients. We have no idea yet if there is a causal link, but we do see that low serotonin is generally associated with mood instability, sleep disorders, fatigue, and negative feelings. This is why doctors may prescribe SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, for those who live with mental health disorders like depression or anxiety. This can help some people manage symptoms over time.
TONY
So if SSRIs block reuptake, then serotonin can keep binding and cause more positive feelings?
SARA
Yep! So in general, for most people, it is a good thing to have regular circulating levels of serotonin in the brain and body since it plays such a big role in keeping us healthy and stable.
I guess it’s not so bad that people are buzzing about “increasing their serotonin levels”. It’s even better when we actually know what it means for us and our bodies.
TONY
Especially since people usually mean dopamine.
SARA
Exactly. But the dog videos do make me happy!
TONY
Wanna see more??
SARA:
Totally!!
A Hummingbird's Time
Joshua Koolik, Jeimar Neiza, Arturo Ortiz San Miguel
Kevin: I wonder what it’s like to be one of those little birds…Kevin: So you really think that’s how hummingbirds see the world? Like in slow-motion??Craig: Well, that’s how I imagine it at least.
Kevin: But how could we have any insights into another animal’s experiences?
Craig: Well, let’s try looking at some of their objective, measurable body functions and see if we can connect those. Like heart rate.
Craig: So we know our human hearts beat around 80 times a minute.
Kevin: Right.
Craig: But let’s compare to a hummingbird. A hummingbird's heart beats about a thousand times a minute. Shifting the focus onto the pulsing of the hearts themselves though, relative to one another, gives a sort of biological time-keeper.
Kevin: So when we watched the hummingbird for just like four seconds - or three human heartbeats - its tiny heart must’ve pumped like fifty times!
Craig: Ya! And I keep wondering what that short amount of time for us felt like for the hummingbird.
Kevin: Or even if you could compare its whole lifetime to ours…
Craig: Well actually, a hummingbird has almost the same life expectancy as a human when measured by heart beats.
Kevin: So you think we can create a hypothesis for how an animal experiences time just based on its heart rate?
Craig: Well there are also other measurable time-related mechanisms in an animal’s body. Like metabolic rate - how much energy an animal uses, relative to its own weight, in a given time.
Craig: A hummingbird can eat like its whole body weight in nectar daily.
Kevin: Oh - but us humans don’t need nearly as much, relative to our size.
Craig: Right, which shows just how much faster a hummingbird uses energy than us.
Craig: Another testable time-based mechanism is the temporal resolution of vision in different animals. That is, how often visual information gets refreshed.
Kevin: Like frames per second?
Craig:That might be a good way of thinking about it - yeah.
Craig: Even though the light here is clearly blinking, an animal like a whale, with a lower threshold, would actually not be able to see that.
Kevin: Oh wait - now I don’t see the light as blinking anymore.
Craig: But at this point, a hummingbird still could!
Kevin: Wow. So it’s like a hummingbird gets more visual inputs than a human in the same second.
Craig: Also, simply the size of an animal’s body alone gives some information too.
Kevin: How so?
Craig: Well. Even though it doesn’t feel this way, our reflexes and the control we have of our body is not instantaneous.
Craig: There is a real distance of the pathways that signals need to take through the body - and an actual speed.
Kevin: It would make sense then that for a bigger animal, like this human, with a longer pathway connecting leg, retina, and brain, for example, reflexes or planned movements take longer.
Kevin: Okay there’s one last approach I want to use to help consider things in a different way. I invented a binocular modification that automatically scales the speed that we see whatever animal it’s pointed at, according to this expression which takes into account heart rate, body mass, and metabolic rate using something called Kleiber’s Law.
Craig: Umm…
Kevin: I want to experience animals under these different time alterations - do we feel them to be more relatable, or come to understand something else. A more qualitative, subjective approach.
Craig: But… but… how are you changing…
Kevin: Don’t think about it too hard - let’s try them out!
Forest and Fungi
Lucia Li, Meera Singh, Sydney Hsieh
This is a forest — still, quiet, and grand. While at first glance, it might not seem like there’s much going on, look closer, and you might observe something strange. Notice this tree stump. It was clearly felled years ago, but why does it still look so alive and healthy? Or this peculiar circle of younger saplings around a towering mature tree. How do these young trees get sunlight through the thick canopy? While it’s easy to view trees as solitary giants, they are deeply interconnected through a complex underground root system called the mycorrhizal network. This transfer of signals and nutrients is all thanks to the efforts of small, unassuming mycorrhizal fungi —”Mushroom: Hey wait, wait, slow down for a sec! What did you say, “my-corr-hi-za?”
Well, the word, mycorrhiza, comes from the Greek 'mukès/mykis' (fungus) and 'rhiza' (root). Mycorrhizal networks are an example of symbiosis, or close interactions between two organisms — in this case, fungi and plant roots. These networks are ancient, dating back to the Devonian and Ordovician periods — even older than dinosaurs!
Dinosaur: “What, are you calling me old??”
Uhhhh not at all! *play-whisper tone* Not only are these networks old, they are widespread, too — scientists estimate that roughly 80% of known tree species have some kind of mycorrhizal symbiosis. Mycorrhizal relationships have been slowly developing over eons, with species of tree and fungi evolving together. The basics of this transfer remain pretty consistent across plant and fungi species. The plant shares extra carbohydrates from its photosynthesis in exchange for crucial nitrogen and phosphorus from the fungi. While fungi cannot photosynthesize by themselves, they grow faster and can access soil pores easier through long, tendril-like structures known as hyphae. But how do they get the nutrients through the many different layers of the tree’s root cortical cells? Let’s look closer to find out.
There are two main types of mycorrhizal networks, and they each work a little bit differently. The more ancient and widespread type of network is called an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal network, or AMF network. AMF networks are found in almost all plants. In an AMF network, the hyphae and plant roots both release molecules that let them sense each other’s presence. Some fungi are harmful, but the molecules that mycorrhizal fungi release signal to plants that they are friendly. Then the plants and fungi change their behavior so that the fungus can colonize the plant root.
Specifically, the fungal hyphae grow and spread out more to make it easier to reach the plant root, and the plant root cells actually move aside to make space for incoming fungi. Notice that the fungus isn’t forcing its way into the plant root. Instead, the plant root has evolved to make room for it, as if welcoming a friend into its home. This means the trees and fungi have coevolved to make this mutually beneficial relationship work smoothly. The fungus snakes through the plant root in between the cells, and finally penetrates the cells. Now, tiny watermill-like structures in the cell membranes provide energy for nutrient transfer; the fungus gives phosphates and nitrogen to the plant, and the plant gives carbohydrates to the fungus.
More advanced plant families–especially trees–also have ectomycorrhizal fungal networks, or EMF networks. “Ecto” means outside, and so the fungus does not penetrate the root cells, but instead stays in between cells and on the outside of the root. Rather than just transferring nutrients between fungi and trees, EMF networks can exchange nutrients and signals *between* trees. For example, when Douglas firs are damaged, they transfer carbon and warning signals to neighboring pine trees. So EMF networks allow trees to share resources with related trees, and thus increase their genetic fitness. But what’s in it for the fungi? By connecting trees together and helping them survive, fungi ensure the stability of their carbon source as well.
Mycorrhizal networks of all kinds are crucial to forest stability. Why keep the leafless, dying stump alive? (*maybe tone*) Perhaps having power in numbers protects against windthrow, or maintaining the existing root connections keeps the rest of the network intact. Similarly, by supporting young understory seedlings as they grow, mature trees can ensure the survival of their species in the future. Altogether, mycorrhizal networks allow plants to share nutrients, increase defense chemistry and kin selection, and support each other when times get tough.
The mutualistic benefit between tree and fungi is integral to the health and stability of the entire forest. Scientists today are continuing to investigate how these networks operate, and there are still many unanswered questions. But one thing we do know is that just like human societies, community connection is vital to the survival of each individual.
