Tangency

    


   The phoenix is a mythological bird that achieves immortality through rebirth; when it approaches the end of its life, it sets itself ablaze and is reborn from the ashes as a hatchling. There is an actual animal that also lives forever by returning to the beginning of its life, the Turritopsis nutricula, the immortal jellyfish. When the translucent creature reaches sexual maturity, it transforms back into a static polyp and attaches to a solid surface on which it matures again into a medusa. The nutricula reverses its life cycle by metamorphosing every cell in its body to its polyp form -- this process allows it to be biologically immortal, should it not succumb to predation or disease. The same process, however, makes measuring the jellyfish’s age nearly impossible outside of a laboratory setting, as a reborn nutricula is identical to a larvae that has recently formed a polyp.
    The Portuguese Man o’ war is not a jellyfish. The creature, or rather, colony, is an amalgamation of polyps, four varieties that carry out the various processes to ensure the continuation of the colony. The most noticeable polyp is the pneumatophore, the air-filled  “sail” on the dorsal side of the man o’ war that allows it to float, guided by the ocean currents and the wind. The dactylzooids compose the stinging tentacles, the gonozooids control reproduction, and the gastrozooids are in charge of digestion. Unfortunately, there is no part that controls locomotion and so the man o’ war can only drift aimlessly on the ocean surface (though it can deflate the sail in the event of an attack), feeding and reproducing until it dies.
    The definite  article “the” is the most commonly used word in the English language as opposed to “a” -- a testament to the specificity-oriented nature of English.
    Some people prefer to use the Oxford comma in lists (“Cats, dogs, and hamsters are common household pets”) while others spurn the last comma (“Cats, dogs and hamsters are all mammals”). There are arguments for boths sides, as some say the Oxford comma is redundant and unnecessarily cluttering, while others point out the advantages of articulating in text the required pause before the last element of a list (“Cats , (pause) dogs, (pause) and hamsters...”). A classic example used by Oxford comma supporters is  “I had eggs, toast and orange juice,” which sounds quite silly without the comma before “and” but would have instead been written “I had eggs with toast and orange juice” had the original writer not been a supporter of the Oxford comma. It is completely optional and can be made so by phrasing and diction, and the choice whether to use it lies with the individual writer.