This year there have been a lot of Japanese people that have received the Nobel prize. One of these people, named Shimomura Osamu, got his Nobel prize for isolating and finding uses for a strange type of glowing protein. This protein, known as the Green Fluorescent Protein, is used in a lot of medical research to tag other proteins. This way we can know where certain proteins are in a human body at any time. It is very interesting. The green fluorescent protein originally came from a small jellyfish. Mr. Shimomura was so interested to see why the jellyfish glows that he spent his life isolating that one protein.
There are so many different types of jellyfish out there. Today I want to talk about a funny looking one that was just found off the coast of Japan. You can see the original article here.
Jellyfish really do come in all different shapes and sizes. They also run the range from being colorful to being almost totally clear. The new type of jellyfish is on the small side because it has a body that measures just about 17cm (about 7in) in diameter. What sets this new type of jellyfish apart (and why I am talking about it) is because of the coloration. Take a look at the picture below.
Cute, isn't it? The reason why I am talking about this new discovery is because of what the Japanese are calling this new jellyfish. Their new name is Red Lantern Jellyfish. Well, now that I read the name I guess I got to say that it does look like a red lantern. What makes it all the more funny is that in Japan a red lantern is put outside of bars at night to single that they are in operation. This is used in a lot of the sketchy parts of town. You can see an example of this type of red lantern below,
Any way, it is now time for the word of the day. Today's word is 提灯(ちょうちん). It is pronounced chouchin and means lantern. Now every time I go out drinking all I will be able to think about is that damn jellyfish.
That's it for today. See you next time at JJNN.
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