Up, Down.A nematocyst (aka cnidocyte, cnidoblast, nematocyte) is a type of venomous cell unique to the phylum Cnidaria (which includes jellyfish). Each cnidocyte cell contains an organelle called a cnidocyst, which comprises a bulb-shape capsule containing a coiled hollow thread-like structure and a hair-like trigger called a cnidocil. The nematocyst capsule stores a large concentration of calcium ions, which are released from the capsule into the cytoplasm of the cnidocyte when the trigger is activated. This causes a large concentration gradient of calcium across the cnidocyte plasma membrane. The resulting osmotic pressure causes a rapid influx of water into the cell. This increase in water volume in the cytoplasm forces the coiled nematocyst to eject rapidly. This discharge is very quick taking only a few microseconds - nematocysts are very efficient weapons. The common antidote is vinegar.1. Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans Decline, Elizabeth Rosenthal, August 3.2. Death in the Gulf of Mexico, NYT Editorial, August 4.NovaesHello! I am the candidate in the upcoming elections ...You can take everything. But please don't hurt me!(This is the recommended approach if you are mugged in the street.)Os Silva - Tiago RodriguesHoney! I can't sleep!Sweetheart, what if we ...That always works. Zzzzzzzzz.*************************************************************Stinging Tentacles Offer Hint of Oceans Decline, Elizabeth Rosenthal, August 3.BARCELONA, Spain Blue patrol boats crisscross the swimming areas of beaches here with their huge nets skimming the waters surface. The yellow flags that urge caution and the red flags that prohibit swimming because of risky currents are sometimes topped now with blue ones warning of a new danger: swarms of jellyfish.In a period of hours during a day a couple of weeks ago, 300 people on Barcelonas bustling beaches were treated for stings, and 11 were taken to hospitals. From Spain to New York, to Australia, Japan and Hawaii, jellyfish are becoming more numerous and more widespread, and they are showing up in places where they have rarely been seen before, scientists say. The faceless marauders are stinging children blithely bathing on summer vacations, forcing beaches to close and clogging fishing nets.But while jellyfish invasions are a nuisance to tourists and a hardship to fishermen, for scientists they are a source of more profound alarm, a signal of the declining health of the worlds oceans. These jellyfish near shore are a message the sea is sending us saying, Look how badly you are treating me, said Dr. Josep-Maria Gili, a leading jellyfish expert, who has studied them at the Institute of Marine Sciences of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona for more than 20 years. The explosion of jellyfish populations, scientists say, reflects a combination of severe overfishing of natural predators, like tuna, sharks and swordfish; rising sea temperatures caused in part by global warming; and pollution that has depleted oxygen levels in coastal shallows. These problems are pronounced in the Mediterranean, a sea bounded by more than a dozen countries that rely on it for business and pleasure. Left unchecked in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, these problems could make the swarms of jellyfish menacing coastlines a grim vision of seas