Sea cucumbers' 'zombie' tissues baffle scientists with ability to survive and absorb nutrients without a mouth

What does it mean to be alive? A new study on an amazing marine creature suggests the answer may be more complex than it seems. Some severed parts of "Psolus fabricii," a type of sea cucumber native to the North Atlantic Ocean, baffled researchers when they noticed that the severed parts did not rot and die, but rather seemed to grow anew, according to American CNN.

To learn more, researchers humanely removed additional parts from the feet, main body, and tentacles of these marine animals. They conducted a number of laboratory experiments in untreated seawater. Indeed, the parts seemed to refuse to die. The different parts healed unexpectedly, and were even able to absorb nutrients, despite the absence of a mouth.

Sarah Gubbson, the lead author of a study describing this finding, published Wednesday in the journal "Science Advances," said: "This is the first case of tissue immortality under natural conditions. These sea cucumber creatures are famous for their high regenerative capacity, so when they lose a tentacle or a tube foot, they are able to regrow it very well. However, no one has ever looked at what happens to the severed tissues, because we simply assumed they would die."

However, the severed tissues did not develop into complete new organisms—a process that can occur under certain conditions in some types of sea cucumbers—raising some philosophical questions.

Gubbson, a doctoral student in oceanography at Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, added: "We affectionately call these cultured tissues 'our zombies' because they seem to be oscillating between life and death."

It is worth noting that many animals can voluntarily amputate tissue and regrow it, the most famous being lizards that sacrifice their tails to escape predators. However, the lost tail itself does not perform any function, as Gubbson pointed out. Compared to sea cucumbers, it seems as if the lizard's tail healed and then crawled in the forest, acquiring its own food and staying alive for years.

Egyptian artist May Ezz Eldin said that she got married in the way she had dreamed of, and to the person she felt love for, and that she had been refusing marriage in a rational way even if she remained unmarried her whole life. May praised the stance of artist Yousra and singer Tamer Hosny, who strongly supported her during the events she went through, as well as director Tamer Mohsen, who pushed her to return to acting through the series "My Heart and My Key," to get her out of the isolation she imposed on herself after the state of grief that controlled her following the death of her mother.

The public interacted via social media sites with May's talk, and her name topped the Google "trend" in Egypt on Monday. May Ezz Eldin appeared to have regained her sparkle after a period of absence from media appearances amid many events she went through over the past two years. She appeared with a romantic look, wearing a crimson dress with a wide décolletage, while being a guest on artist and media personality Esaad Younis's program "Sahibet El Saada."

The artist touched upon 3 important events she went through that affected her negatively and positively, starting with the shock of her mother's death, which affected her psychologically, through her marriage to Dr. Ahmed Teymour, a nutritionist, and then her suffering from a severe health crisis.

May revealed for the first time the details of the health crisis she experienced months ago, during which she felt that death was approaching her. She said that "the crisis began with severe pain and inability to digest food. Doctors discovered the spread of acute pus in the stomach and intestines and dangerous adhesions. The matter developed into severe poisoning, so I underwent a precise laparoscopic surgery to clean the intestines and remove the appendix." She affirmed that this crisis made her see life from a different perspective, and trust that God's eye was watching over her, and that people's prayers surrounded her.

The Egyptian artist spoke about her late mother, who was her friend, and that she managed her life and took care of everything related to her, and that they completed each other. She mentioned that her mother suffered from kidney failure. May returned from Riyadh, where she was performing a play, after her mother was admitted to the hospital, only to discover that she had fallen into a coma and passed away 15 days later, which caused her a bad psychological state, according to her.

She added that God sent her director Tamer Mohsen, whom she described as being "like a psychiatrist. He came to console me, ask me how I felt and what worried me, and offered me work in the series (My Heart and My Key)." She asserts that she did not imagine that she could face a camera at that time, but he began to convince her of the importance of it, studied the role with her, and worked to keep her busy throughout the filming period and not leave her time alone, also emphasizing that God showed her the love of people after her mother's death. She pointed out that artist Yousra strongly supported her in all her crises and in her marriage, as did artist Tamer Hosny, who took care of all the procedures and funeral rites after her mother's death.

May recounted the story of her marriage, which surprised everyone on November 11, 2025. It began with her attending a concert by artist Omar Khairat, and Ahmed Teymour was sitting next to her, and they met. She revealed that she couldn't help but cry with the playing of Ali El Haggar's song "I Don't Know Why," which she and her mother loved, and that Teymour tried to comfort her, and they became friends. He helped her lose weight, and their friendship continued for about 4 months, then they discovered the compatibility of their feelings. She confirmed that she married as she had wished, and the wedding was attended by only a few of his family and her family. Her husband is the first person who restored her sense of security, and that they resemble each other in reality and appreciate family life.

Egyptian art critic Ahmed Saad El Din confirmed that "May Ezz Eldin's appearance and her first talk about her private life attracted the public because she rarely speaks and appears, so people were eager to hear her, especially after the health crisis she went through." He noted that "the public was happy with the news of her marriage and rejoiced for her in a big and sincere way, as if she were everyone's daughter."

He added to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that "May began her career as a film star in the movie (Journey of Love) opposite Mohamed Fouad and directed by Mohamed El Nagar, and achieved cinematic stardom like the (Omar and Salma) film series with Tamer Hosny. However, in recent years, her artistic steps were simple and slow, but her success in the series (My Heart and My Key) confirmed that her position as a romantic heroine was not occupied by anyone in her absence, and that she has every opportunity to regain it."

It is worth noting that Mai Heitap Hussein Ezz El Din, known as May Ezz Eldin, belongs to the city of Alexandria. Her first television appearance was through the series "Where Is My Heart," where she played the role of Yousra's daughter. She also participated in the بطولة of a number of films, including "Call Mom," "I Think," and "Bouha." She shone in television works, including "State of Love," "Safia's Case," and "Souk El Kanto."

Elizabeth Blackadder's fame may be greater thanks to her simple paintings, which depict flowers and cats, but a new exhibition of her works focuses, instead, on cold landscapes and simple still-life compositions.

The exhibition, held in Hampshire, far from Blackadder's home in Scotland, highlights a lesser-known aspect of the artist's professional life, with most pieces being shown for the first time, according to the British newspaper "The Guardian."

Early works in Blackadder's career include a series of Italian landscapes painted in gouache and watercolors in the 1950s, shortly after Blackadder graduated from art college. The oil still-life paintings belong to the 1960s and 1970s.

Art writer and editor Anna Brady said that Blackadder, who died in 2021 at the age of 89, painted Italian landscapes after winning a travel grant.

She wrote in the exhibition catalog: "Blackadder, who lived in Florence, would take a bus to the countryside to paint. Although we might cling to romantic notions about painting trips to Tuscany, the reality of being a young woman painting outdoors alone, during a harsh winter in post-war Italy, was much harsher, and we can almost feel the cold on our fingertips in the collection of dark Tuscan landscapes."

In later still-life paintings, personal objects such as a coffee pot appear repeatedly. Brady added: "Blackadder seems to have gained confidence in achieving more with less effort, and her compositions have become more precise and limited to the essentials."

Gallery director Gina Burlingham, for her part, expressed her belief that: "What makes this exhibition so exciting is that it highlights works from the first two decades of Elizabeth Blackadder's career."