Off the coast of Japan, biologists netted a pea-size jellyfish with an unusual circadian clock — a chance finding that suggests there are likely more overlooked biological timekeeping mechanisms to be discovered. <p>The post <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-jellies-that-evolved-a-different-way-to-keep-time-20260320/" target="_blank">The Jellies That Evolved a Different Way To Keep Time</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.quantamagazine.org" target="_blank">Quanta Magazine</a></p>
The passage of the sun across the sky — dawn, day, dusk, night — drives the clock of life. Some species wake with the sun and sleep with the moon. Others do the opposite, and a few keep odd hours. These naturally driven, 24-hour biological cycles are known as circadian rhythms, and they do more than cue bedtime: They regulate hormones, metabolism, DNA repair, and more. When life falls out of sync…