By Allison Kubo Hutchison Jellyfish simulate human ears in microgravity but can’t adjust to Earth gravity after a life in space. In the early 90’s, a one point there were 60,000 jellyfish orbiting the Earth. Although it sounds like the beginning of a sci-fi novel, this is actually the beginning of a microgravity study , lead by Dororthy Spangberger from the Easter Virginia Medical School. Jellyfish although unlike humans in most ways have an important similarity: jellyfish have the ability to sense up and down, to sense the direction of gravity. Jellyfish form calcium sulfate crystals in small pockets situated around the cap or bell of the jelly. When their direction relative to gravity changes these sulfate crystals fall and stimulate hair like nerves within the pocket similar to how a ball in a bowl will roll when you tilt the bowl. This mechanism is analogous to how our inner ear senses gravity. Within your inner ear, you have multiple otolithic organs, organs dedicated to sens
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