WEBVTT - How Does the Portuguese Man-of-War Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey, brain Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Florin vogel mom here. Don't ignore purple flags at the beach.

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<v Speaker 1>When American lifeguards fly them, it's because potentially dangerous sea

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<v Speaker 1>creatures have appeared in the water. Maybe there's a gang

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<v Speaker 1>of jellyfish close by, or perhaps some stingrays are on

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<v Speaker 1>the move. But a purple flag can also signal the

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<v Speaker 1>arrival of a much weirder life form, Physalia physalis, a

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<v Speaker 1>venomous drifter with a mean sting, commonly known as the

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese man o war. The Portuguese man o war is

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<v Speaker 1>partially transparent, a black suspine, and kills prey with stinging tentacles.

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<v Speaker 1>You might mistake it for a jellyfish, but it's not.

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<v Speaker 1>A jellyfish is a singular animal, just like you were

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<v Speaker 1>me hypothetically. On the other hand, every Portuguese man o

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<v Speaker 1>war is a floating colony made up of smaller, genetically

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<v Speaker 1>identical entities that each develop from a single fertilized egg

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<v Speaker 1>and have different functions, but all live and work in concert.

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese men of war are a type of colonial animal

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<v Speaker 1>called a siphonophore. There are about one hundred and seventy

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<v Speaker 1>five known species of siphonophores, all of which are colonies

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<v Speaker 1>of zooids. Hundreds or even thousands of zooids might make

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<v Speaker 1>up the colony for the article. This episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff Works spoke by email with biologist Patriona Monro.

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<v Speaker 1>She said that from an evolutionary standpoint, these bodies are

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<v Speaker 1>similar quote to free living individuals, but the colony itself

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<v Speaker 1>functions as an individual and the bodies or units within

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<v Speaker 1>the colony do not. A Portuguese man o war is

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<v Speaker 1>comprised of a few different types of zooids with different functions.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of them, the gastrozooids, break down food for the colony.

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<v Speaker 1>That food is captured in the first place by the

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<v Speaker 1>grasping tentacle like dactyl zooids. Another important player is the pneumataphore,

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<v Speaker 1>a gas filled flotation bladder. And let's not forget about

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<v Speaker 1>the procreation specialists. Human beings might not have too many

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<v Speaker 1>things biologically in common with Portuguese meno war, yet they,

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<v Speaker 1>like us, reproduce sexually. Every colony produces sperm cells or

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<v Speaker 1>egg cells, but not both. Houstuffworks also spoke via email

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<v Speaker 1>with Paul Bologna of Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey.

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<v Speaker 1>He explained that during the Portuguese man of war's reproductive seasons,

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<v Speaker 1>colonies shed their sex cells out into the water. When

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<v Speaker 1>a sperm meets and fertilizes an egg, a new colony

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<v Speaker 1>starts growing. Bologna said, these cells begin to divide and

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<v Speaker 1>develop in the water column. As the individual grows, new

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<v Speaker 1>zooids clones within the colony are generated. As the early

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<v Speaker 1>colony develops, the noumatophoor expands and fills with air, which

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<v Speaker 1>brings it to the surface, where final development and growth occurs. Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>it's have pneumataphor will travel once inflated. This specialty air

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<v Speaker 1>sack kind of resembles a deformed party balloon. It's how

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<v Speaker 1>the colony gets around. Unlike octopuses or true jellyfish, Portuguese

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<v Speaker 1>men of war can't actively swim. The species must instead

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<v Speaker 1>rely on its bloated pneumataphor, which pokes out above the

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<v Speaker 1>surface of the water and catches the wind like a

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<v Speaker 1>ship's sail, propelling the whole colony forward. That's how the

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese man o war got its name. By the way,

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't have anything to do with geography or any

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<v Speaker 1>other particular connection to Portugal, or rather, the critter's distinctive

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<v Speaker 1>sailing mechanism reminded people of the shapes of fifteenth century

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese warships. Each man of war colony is actually considered

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<v Speaker 1>either right handed or left handed, depending on how that

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<v Speaker 1>noumatophor structure is oriented relative to the colony's tentacles that

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<v Speaker 1>rest below the water's surface. When a left handed colony

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<v Speaker 1>is pushed by the wind, it naturally moves to the right.

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<v Speaker 1>Right handed ones are driven towards the left. Tropical waters

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<v Speaker 1>are the usual domain of this species, but pay heed

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<v Speaker 1>every so often winds and currents sweet men of war

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<v Speaker 1>into more temperate places, Bologna said. In the Northern Atlantic Ocean,

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<v Speaker 1>Portuguese meta war often get carried north with the Gulf

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<v Speaker 1>Stream current off the coast of the United States, so

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<v Speaker 1>it's common to see them wash up on beaches from

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<v Speaker 1>South Carolina to Maine. Additionally, the Gulf Stream continues across

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<v Speaker 1>the Atlantic, so they wash up along the coast of

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<v Speaker 1>England and northern European countries quite frequently. Over in the

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<v Speaker 1>Indo Pacific, there's a smaller but otherwise similar lookings iphonophor

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<v Speaker 1>called the blue bottle. There's been some debate about whether

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<v Speaker 1>or not it belongs to the same species as the

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<v Speaker 1>man of war. In the man of War, Beneath the

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<v Speaker 1>floating balloon lies network of tentacles capable of measuring thirty

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<v Speaker 1>feet or nine meters long, or even upward of one

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<v Speaker 1>hundred feet around thirty meters long. They're loaded with the

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<v Speaker 1>invertebrates not so secret weapon stinging cells bologna explained. Within

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<v Speaker 1>each of these cells is a harpoon like structure or

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<v Speaker 1>organelle called a nomaticist, whose function is to release and

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<v Speaker 1>penetrate the skin of another organism and then release its

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<v Speaker 1>cocktail of venoms. That's because metal war are carnivorous. These

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<v Speaker 1>injections can paralyze fish, crustaceans, and other small animals so

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<v Speaker 1>that the colony can eat them. Human beings aren't on

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<v Speaker 1>the menu, but beach goers should still keep their distance.

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<v Speaker 1>The sting of a Portuguese man o war can trigger

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<v Speaker 1>agonizing skin pain. Other symptoms might include abdominal pain, vomiting, headaches,

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<v Speaker 1>and diarrhea. Human fatalities are rare, but not unheard of.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why you should beware of a man of war

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<v Speaker 1>floating in open water, those long ten ol can wrap

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<v Speaker 1>around you and discharge a dangerous number of stinging cells.

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<v Speaker 1>Beached men of war can sting you two, so don't

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<v Speaker 1>touch one if you ever see one lying on the

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<v Speaker 1>sand should you get stung, though, researchers have a few tips,

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<v Speaker 1>and no, none of them involve urine. How stuff works,

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<v Speaker 1>also spoke i email angel Jaanagahara from the University of

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<v Speaker 1>Hawaii at Manoa, who was part of a team the

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<v Speaker 1>compared different treatment strategies for stings in a twenty seventeen study.

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<v Speaker 1>As she said, a first aid for the man of

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<v Speaker 1>war is a bit controversial. Vinegar is generally recommended as

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<v Speaker 1>a first step to prevent additional discharge of nomaticists left

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<v Speaker 1>on the skin. So what's step number two? Your most

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<v Speaker 1>practical option might be to immerse the affected area in

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<v Speaker 1>skin safe hot water, or apply a hot pack with

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<v Speaker 1>a temperature of one hundred and seven to one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and thirteen degrees fahrenheit that's forty two to forty five

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<v Speaker 1>degrees celsius. Keep it on for thirty two to forty

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<v Speaker 1>five minutes. The heat will inactivate some of the venom

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<v Speaker 1>compounds causing the pain. However, the team's research did show

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<v Speaker 1>that if you have access to it, applying Sting No

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<v Speaker 1>More spray followed by Sting No More cream has even

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<v Speaker 1>better and faster results than treatment with heat. One thing

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<v Speaker 1>you definitely should not do is pee on the injury.

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<v Speaker 1>Urine is sometimes touted as a folk remedy for jellyfish

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<v Speaker 1>and Portuguese man o war stings. A nineteen ninety seven

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<v Speaker 1>episode of the sitcom Friends popularized this idea, and don't

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<v Speaker 1>buy it. Yanagahara said, scientific studies have not shown that

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<v Speaker 1>urine reduces venom activity or tissue damage. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article the Portuguese Man of War is

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<v Speaker 1>not a Jellyfish and packs a nasty sting on HowStuffWorks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klang. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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