Meet the Microcosmos

S01 E01 • Monday, Jun 24, 2019 • Jun 24 • 10m

Join us on the first episode of Journey to the Microcosmos as we take a dive into the tiny, unseen world that surrounds us! With music by Andrew Huang, footage from James Weiss, and narration by Hank Green, we hope to take you on a fascinating, reflective journey!

How Microscopic Hunters Get Their Lunch

S01 E02 • Monday, Jul 1, 2019 • Jul 1 • 10m

On this week's journey, we explore the ways things eat in the microcosmos, from Stentors filter feeding to Dileptus hunting down and absorbing its prey.

Stentors: Single-Celled Giants

S01 E03 • Monday, Jul 8, 2019 • Jul 8 • 10m

It's time to meet a single-celled organism that is bigger than a tardigrade! We'll learn how Stentors reproduce, why they look like trumpets, and why some of them are just SO BLUE!

How Do Microorganisms Reproduce?

S01 E04 • Monday, Jul 15, 2019 • Jul 15 • 10m

How do stentors make more stentors? Does Paramecium reproduce sexually or asexually? Find out on this week's journey as we explore the ways the microcosmos reproduce!

Where Did Eukaryotic Cells Come From? - A Journey Into Endosymbiotic Theory

S01 E05 • Monday, Jul 22, 2019 • Jul 22 • 10m

1.8 billion years ago, a cell ate another cell, but it didn't digest it, and without that happening, we would not exist. This week we explore the origins of eukaryotic cells and ask the question, "Are our cells more than ourselves?"

Tardigrades: Chubby, Misunderstood, & Not Immortal

S01 E06 • Monday, Jul 29, 2019 • Jul 29 • 10m

We know these cute little water bears can survive the vacuum of space but are they actually immortal? We'll explore that and other misconceptions about tardigrades in this week's journey!

How Do Protozoa Get Around?

S01 E07 • Monday, Aug 5, 2019 • Aug 5 • 10m

If you were a protozoan, how would you zoom zoom zoom all around the microcosmos? From false feet to microtubules, find out how these single-celled eukaryotes make their way through the universe.

Diatoms: Tiny Factories You Can See From Space

S01 E08 • Monday, Aug 12, 2019 • Aug 12 • 10m

We owe so much to diatoms! They help us make beer, paint, and kitty litter, and they're responsible for some of the air you're breathing right now!

Mysterious Jiggly Crystals and Other Intracellular Structures

S01 E09 • Tuesday, Aug 20, 2019 • Aug 20 • 10m

Let's journey deep into the cells themselves to take a look at some of the structures that keep cells alive and others that do... something... that we'll figure out someday... probably.

How Do Colonies Help Microorganisms Survive?

S01 E10 • Monday, Aug 26, 2019 • Aug 26 • 10m

In the microcosmos, it's dangerous to go alone. This week we go on a journey into colonies to find out why sticking together is such a great strategy!

Death in the Microcosmos

S01 E11 • Monday, Sep 2, 2019 • Sep 2 • 10m

Death is inevitable and mysterious, even in the microcosmos. Stentors, heliozoans, and yes, even tardigrades, experience death in many different ways.

Euglenoids: Single-Celled Shapeshifters

S01 E12 • Monday, Sep 9, 2019 • Sep 9 • 10m

Euglenoids have had a very, very long time to evolve, and that has led to the things they have evolved into being extremely diverse—so diverse that, combined with the varied shape-shifting abilities of its member species, euglenoids have proven challenging to both identify and classify.

Hydra: Stretchy, Speedy, & Probably Immortal

S01 E13 • Monday, Sep 16, 2019 • Sep 16 • 10m

The hydra of mythology may not be as far off from reality as you think! Let's take a journey to the mall to meet our tentacled, regenerating friends!

Relax and Enjoy the View

S01 E14 • Monday, Sep 23, 2019 • Sep 23 • 10m

This week, we're taking a bit of a break, but we thought you might also like one. So, today, let's all just sit and look at our lovely little friends while we take a breath and enjoy Andrew Huang's amazing music.

Life Without Oxygen? Challenge Accepted

S01 E15 • Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019 • Oct 1 • 10m

Slimy, a little smelly, maybe even a little gross, but to many organisms, the oxic-anoxic transition is a shifting chemical boundary that has created a challenge for life...a challenge it conquered.

Rotifers: Charmingly Bizarre & Often Ignored

S01 E16 • Monday, Oct 7, 2019 • Oct 7 • 10m

We also don't really know what rotifers are... but we'll try to tell you as much as we know!

The Microscopic Circle of Life

S01 E17 • Monday, Oct 14, 2019 • Oct 14 • 10m

Life is chemistry. From diatom to Diana, life is not a magical imbued trait, is a process of the physics of our universe. The precise and convoluted chemistry of life requires specific physical and chemical situations. And this planet has a dizzying variety of such circumstances that, over millions or even billions of years, living chemical systems have evolved to thrive in.

Amoebas: Occasional Brain-Eaters

S01 E18 • Monday, Oct 21, 2019 • Oct 21 • 10m

Yes, they might eat your brain, but there's a lot more to amoebas than that!

The Colors of the Microcosmos

S01 E19 • Monday, Oct 28, 2019 • Oct 28 • 10m

We see the colors of the microcosmos every single week, but let's stop and ask why our some microbes are bright green, while others are a golden brown.

Eating, Hatching, and Crashing into the Moon: More About Tardigrades

S01 E20 • Monday, Nov 4, 2019 • Nov 4 • 10m

This week, the microcosmos meet the cosmos as we explore even more fascinating things about our friend, the tardigrade. We'll discuss their weird weird mouths, how we take care of our tardigrades, and what's going to happen to those tardigrades that crashed into the moon.

Are Microbes Good or Bad for Humans?

S01 E21 • Monday, Nov 11, 2019 • Nov 11 • 10m

Where is the line between good and bad microorganisms and why do we seem to know so much more about the bad ones?

Paramecium: The White Rat of Ciliates

S01 E22 • Monday, Nov 18, 2019 • Nov 18 • 10m

These world travelers might be, well, almost everywhere, but there is a still a lot we don't know about the famous paramecium.

Microorganisms Are Cleaning the Water You Drink

S01 E23 • Monday, Nov 25, 2019 • Nov 25 • 10m

Microbes are used for everything from baking to brewing, but wastewater treatment is where they do some of their most important work.

What Microscope Do We Use? (And Other Frequently Asked Questions)

S01 E24 • Tuesday, Dec 3, 2019 • Dec 3 • 10m

What Humans and Stentors Have in Common

S01 E25 • Monday, Dec 9, 2019 • Dec 9 • 10m

This week, we're diving back into the world of Stentors to find out what humans and Stentors have in common!

Gastrotrichs: Four Day Old Grandmothers

S01 E26 • Monday, Dec 16, 2019 • Dec 16 • 10m

These little hairy-bellied friends lead a very interesting life, albeit a short one.

We Recorded Some Strange Goop. What Is It?

S01 E27 • Monday, Dec 23, 2019 • Dec 23 • 10m

This week's journey comes to you unedited and in real-time as we explore a mysterious infection.

What If All the Microbes Disappeared?

S01 E28 • Tuesday, Dec 31, 2019 • Dec 31 • 10m

In a world without microbes, this channel wouldn't exist. But there are other, more important things that would stop existing as well, and today we're going to explore just what could survive a world without our little micro friends, and for how long.

Desmids: The Symmetrical Algae That's Full of Crystals

S01 E29 • Monday, Jan 6, 2020 • Jan 6 • 10m

Microbes Don’t Actually Look Like Anything

S01 E30 • Tuesday, Jan 14, 2020 • Jan 14 • 10m