THE AMAZING JELLYFISH

A few interesting bits of news you might have missed:

• After some delay, Lyft reported they experienced 1807 sexual assault victims in 2019.
• However, they went on to say that this represented only 0.0002% of all rides.  
• They had around 90 million riders with 300,000 drivers.
• Uber had more than 3000 sexual assaults in 2018.  
• With 1.3 billion rides, or a rate of 0.0002%, the same as Lyft.
• There were also 9 riders murdered and 58 killed in crashes.
• The sexual assault rates for both are actually higher, as many cases are just not reported.

Does this mean you should avoid Uber and Lyft?  No.  The reality is this:

• 7.2% of all children surveyed in 2019 had been victims of sexual assault.
• Approximately 70 women commit suicide EVERY DAY in the U.S. following an act of sexual violence.
• 1 in 6 women will be raped during her lifetime in the U.S.  This disturbing figure is predicted to rise exponentially over the next three years.
• One in 33 American men will be raped during his lifetime, 25% before the age of 10.
• 46% of bisexual women reported being raped, compared to 17% of straight women.
• 90% of rape victims are female.
• Females between the ages of 16 to 19 are FOUR times more likely than other ages to be sexually assaulted.
• People with disabilities are twice as likely to be a victim than those without disabilities, especially those with cognitive-functioning disability.
• An American is sexually assaulted every 93 seconds.
• Interestingly enough, while around half a million Americans have been a victim of sexual assault since the pandemic started, 754,000 have died from COVID-19.
• 80% of sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance, usually a relative, teacher, religious leader or spouse.  As such, there is a relatively high incidence of non-reportage.  This report says that more than two-thirds of cases are NOT reported.
• 94% of child victims knew their attacker.
• 7% of rape claims were false.
• Almost half of sexual assaults occur in the home.  Very few are initiated in a dark alley or when hiking alone.
• When including all factors, the cost of rapes amount to $450 billion/year.
• For every 1000 rapes in the U.S., 995 perpetrators will go unpunished!!!  Another report dealing with sexual assault in general says this figure is 975. 
• In other words, for every 1000 sexual assaults, 310 will be reported, and 25 will be incarcerated.
• Out of 1000 robberies, 619 are reported to police and only 20 will be incarcerated.
• That's 2%?  No wonder crime flourishes.
• The judicial system supports crimes, for how many times have you read of someone being arrested who has already been convicted ten times....or fifty.
• Dan Patrick said that 15% of the population commits all the crimes.  But he is that kooky Texas Lt Governor.  
• Another more credible report indicates that 1% of the population is accountable for 63% of all violent crime.  
• Or maybe Patrick is not all that off, for nearly a third of the adult working age population has a criminal record, just about the fraction of those who have college degrees.  
• Also, if all the arrested Americans were a nation, that group would be larger than Canada, than France, or three times the population of Australia.
• Holding hands, Americans with arrest records would circle the earth three times.
• Well, at least there are more obese Americans than those with arrest records!

The USA has more people in prison per capita than any other country in the world, or 639/100,000 population.  Others:

• Brazil  357
• Russia  328
• Mexico  166
• China  121
• South Korea 105
• Italy  89
• Afghanistan  87
• Norway  49
• Japan  38
• Iceland  33

Shifting to my daily posting subject, I recently read about the Nomura jellyfish and the damage they cause Japanese fisheries.  How?  They are so large (more than six feet in diameter, 12 feet long and up to nearly 500 pounds) that they destroy fishing nets. 

So I searched further:

• This jellyfish has 20 mouths, mostly consuming zooplankton.
• Tentacles can give a painful sting, and can kill with many stings.
• There are only 2.5 million of them, and a female lays around 45,000 eggs.
• Lives around Japan and near China.
• Can live at depths of 1000 feet and more.
• Longevity of 3 years. 
• Communicates using bioluminescent signals.

Hawaii has monthly box jellyfish warnings, usually 9-11 days after a full moon.  Mostly only Oahu is seriously affected.  Why a warning?  It is said to be have the deadliest of jellyfish stings, and can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to drop.  They are only around 2 inches in diameter with a length up to 10 inches.  If stung, treat with white vinegar.  Use heat, not an ice pack, and don't use any alcohol treatment.  You would think the Hawaii Visitor's Bureau would have found a way to cure this problem, but might be because no one in Hawaii has been killed by a jellyfish.  A death has been reported in Australia.  Actually, there are more than 50 varieties of the box jellyfish, and some can grow to a diameter of 12 feet and weigh 4.5 pounds.

So I searched further and found some fascinating facts:

• There is one species, Turritopsis dohnii that can live forever by a reversal process:

• A cousin, the Hydra viridissima, doesn't go through senescence and has the capacity for infinite self-renewal.  Has to do with the FoxO genes.

• 
  Turns out that lobsters seem to have a never ending supply of the telomerase enzyme and can thus live a very long time.  A lobster named George was released at the age of 140 years old and could be still alive.   Likewise, a Quahog clam named Ming lived for 500 years until dredged up from the ocean.  Some bristlecone pines are at least 80,000 years old.

• 
  But back to the jellyfish:
• Swarms can shut down a nuclear powerplant.
• They have no brain, but have been around for 500 million years.  They are the world's oldest animal.

• 
  Is a source of food:
• Fried egg jellyfish in the Mediterranean.
• Through Asia in various dishes.  Here, a Korean jellyfish salad.  Said to be exquisitely crispy, and, at the same time, chewy.

• 
  Video about Chinese cuisine.  The cannonball jellyfish is particularly popular (right).
• In case you were thinking about catching and selling box jellyfish:

Can you eat Jellyfish just like a fish? No, it needs special processing to be preserved for long time. It is also needed to make it free from venomous stings. It is a time consuming process and can take close to 1 month to convert it into dry foods.

The tentacles are separated from the body before processing. Then the flesh is washed thoroughly with salt water. Table salt and alum is added to make it dry. Sometimes a little soda (sodium bicarbonate) is added with the mix for better results. One needs to repeat the processed to make the item ready to be preserved.

• Seems to be thriving even more through climate warming.

• 
  That Nomura jellyfish is not the largest.  The lion's mane jellyfish (right, Cyanea capillata) can stretch across 120 feet from top to bottom.  You might have read Arthur Conan Doyle's short story, The Adventure of the Lion's Mane.
• One of smallest, a variety of the box jellyfish, the irukandji, about 3/4 of an inch, has a sting that can cause headache, chest pain, anxiety, vomiting and respiratory problems.
• The bottom line is to carefully consume jellyfish in a reputable restaurant, but avoid it in the ocean, especially on the beach at Waikiki.

The following will put you in a better mood for the weekend:

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