Missing Links: immortal jellyfish + fireflies + printing a human heart

(photo by Matthew James Fox, graphics and editing by me)

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Wow, it's been like a month and a half since my last edition of Missing Links! Missing Links is all about links, articles, infographics and resources, written in common English for normal people interested in the sciences. I'm thinking I'm going to make this a monthlyish post since I know it might now be all of your favorite post, but I still want to post it! Even though it's summer and I'm not in class, I'm still trying to keep my brain going (more on that soon). Part of that means reading articles and science journals regularly, which is something I already like to do. Soooo, here are a few of my recent faves!

+ 5 small creatures capable of causing massive amounts of pain. Okay, I'll admit, I've never sat around and wondered which small animals/insects can cause the most pain, but this is still a super fascinating article. Also, that box jellyfish is actually gorgeous. I kind of want to cuddle with it but apparently I shouldn't want that.

+ There was once a woman who had immortal cells. I reviewed the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks awhile ago, but in case you haven't/don't want to read a long book about cells, here's a short recap. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

+ Scientists are trying to use 3D printers to manufacture a human heart. Yeah, seriously. Even more surprising, they have already successfully created splint, valves and a human ear. A team from University of Louisville estimates that they may succeed at creating a human heart within 3-5 years!

+ Holy weird. There's a kind of jellyfish that can actually age backwards. As it grows old, it can change its method of producing cells so that it actually becomes physiologically younger. In theory (aka without the threat of predators), these jellies could live forever. Tell me that's not freaking amazing.

+ Just sort of randomly interesting, here's an article with really cool photos where you can find out how cork is made. It's apparently a very technical and precise process. Who knew? 

+ And just for fun, long exposure photographs of fireflies.

P.S. Want more? Missing Links, more Missing Links, and How DNA Fingerprinting Works.