The Complicated Sex Lives of Hydra

S07 E01 • Monday, May 29, 2023 • May 29 • 12m

If we were to write a fable to get this moral across, it would have to star the freshwater cnidarian called the hydra. Because in the hydra, the question of butts connects to the ambiguities of immortality, which in turn relates to the befuddling matter of sexual reproduction.

When Is A Fungus Not A Fungus?

S07 E02 • Monday, Jun 5, 2023 • Jun 5 • 11m

Oomycetes are one of the more unusual-looking microbes we’ve seen in the microcosmos. It looks more like a coral reef painted by an artist inspired by Gustav Klimt and a pile of trash. And if you saw that painting hanging in the museum, you might pass it by without thinking much of its subject.

The Cryptic Origins of Yogurt

S07 E03 • Monday, Jun 12, 2023 • Jun 12 • 10m

The microcosmos is home to many unusual partnerships. Life is, after all, just relationships, each of which build upon one another like strokes of paint in an epic tableau of ecology, epidemics, and yogurt?

Why Beggiatoa Are Stuffed Full Of Sulfur

S07 E04 • Monday, Jun 19, 2023 • Jun 19 • 10m

There’s a few things that give Beggiatoa away. The first is the simple serpentine shape of their bodies, and the second are those little dots inside of them. They look like bubbles, but they’re actually sulfur granules.

We Don't Know Why Moth Wings Glow

S07 E05 • Monday, Jul 10, 2023 • Jul 10 • 10m

A little while ago, James found himself with a bit of a problem. He was keeping some wheat grains at home to use as food for the microbes that he cultures and films for our enjoyment. But before he could feed the grains to his microbes, they became infested with the larvae.. of moths.

Avoid These Tiny Bits of Killer Fluff (If You Can)

S07 E06 • Monday, Jul 17, 2023 • Jul 17 • 11m

When you hear the phrase “brain-eating amoebas,” is there a particular image that comes to mind? Whatever you envision, it's probably not what the notorious brain-eating amoeba that strikes fear in our hearts actually looks like.

This Neon World Is Inside Your Fruit

S07 E07 • Monday, Jul 24, 2023 • Jul 24 • 11m

Usually we’re looking into pond water or whatever other fascinating bit of nature that James, our master of microscopes, usually looks at. But right now, our sights are coming to us directly from the kitchen and from a different master of microscopes.

Up Close With The World's Deadliest Animal

S07 E08 • Monday, Jul 31, 2023 • Jul 31 • 9m

Under the microscope, mosquitos undergo a metamorphosis sculpted in gold. The buzzing body takes on a life of its own, its usual role as menace lying far beyond the margins of the screen.

Falling In Love With Microscopy

S07 E09 • Monday, Aug 7, 2023 • Aug 7 • 12m

This video is all about James, who many of you know as our master of microscopes. He is the scientist, and the artist, behind just about everything we are able to see in our collective journey through the microcosmos.

The Tiny Worlds Inside of Puddles

S07 E10 • Monday, Aug 14, 2023 • Aug 14 • 7m

When was the last time you saw a puddle? Was it recent—perhaps some time in the past week, fresh from a downpour? Or has it been a long time since you’ve seen rain, and so an even longer time since your path has crossed a puddle?

Why Are Some Birds Blue?

S07 E11 • Monday, Aug 21, 2023 • Aug 21 • 9m

One of the spectacular details of animals in our world is just how varied their colors can be. When you look at birds, for example, you’ll see everything from mundane grays to iridescent blues. So why don’t we shine with the same iridescence of birds?

The Electric Relationship Between Plants And Bees

S07 E12 • Monday, Aug 28, 2023 • Aug 28 • 8m

When you think of bees, you probably don’t think of single-celled eukaryotes. What could an insect have in common with, say, a ciliate?

Floating Cities of Scum

S07 E13 • Monday, Sep 4, 2023 • Sep 4 • 10m

When you think of bees, you probably don’t think of single-celled eukaryotes. What could an insect have in common with, say, a ciliate?

Liverworts Use The Rain To Make Their Clones

S07 E14 • Monday, Sep 11, 2023 • Sep 11 • 8m

An ambiguously long time ago, there was this theory of medicine. An idea that if you came across a plant that looked like a body part, that meant it was meant to treat ailments that targeted said part. And this put a lot of pressure on liverwort, simply because it resembled the liver.

Bacteria That Survive In Gelatinous Colonies

S07 E15 • Monday, Sep 18, 2023 • Sep 18 • 9m

In the 1820s, a man named Dr. R. Brandes walked through a meadow on a quest to try and answer a centuries-old question about a mysterious gelatinous substance on the ground known as “star jelly.”

Is It Possible To Photosynthesize In The Dark?

S07 E16 • Monday, Sep 25, 2023 • Sep 25 • 11m

Our master of microscopes is always looking for rare ciliates that live in areas low in oxygen. But when he puts those samples under a growth light, his tubes quickly turn the color of the green sulfur bacteria that thrive in those anaerobic conditions.

This Predator Is A Shape-Shifter

S07 E17 • Monday, Oct 2, 2023 • Oct 2 • 10m

In the middle of the 19th century, a scientist stared into the microscope and found, staring back at him, a vampire.

Blood-Sucking Escape Artists

S07 E18 • Monday, Oct 9, 2023 • Oct 9 • 10m

Of all the animals that we’ve examined in the microcosmos, leeches are probably one of the few that can be used as a verb, to leech off someone—to take and take from them, like a worm consuming someone’s blood.

This Microscopic Killer Wears Its Victims

S07 E19 • Monday, Oct 16, 2023 • Oct 16 • 10m

If you have been following Journey to the Microcosmos for some time, this might sound like a familiar story.| Consider this a proper slasher movie sequel.

These Dancing Worms Are Surprisingly Useful

S07 E20 • Monday, Oct 23, 2023 • Oct 23 • 9m

Some Ciliates Are Hiding a Secret Weapon

S07 E21 • Monday, Oct 30, 2023 • Oct 30 • 11m

Can Microbes Just Appear Out Of Nowhere?

S07 E22 • Monday, Nov 6, 2023 • Nov 6 • 12m

Can life be created spontaneously? Well, a year and a half ago, our master of microscopes, James, was inspired by the idea of spontaneous generation and set up his own little experiment.

Trying To Solve Some Micro Mysteries

S07 E23 • Monday, Nov 13, 2023 • Nov 13 • 9m

We Found Some Things We Can't Explain Today's episode has one particular theme: a bunch of funny things going on in the microcosmos.

What Do These Algae Do With Four Genomes?

S07 E24 • Monday, Nov 20, 2023 • Nov 20 • 9m

The History of Red Algae

S07 E25 • Monday, Dec 11, 2023 • Dec 11 • 9m

Imagine that you aren’t watching the microcosmos right now. Instead you’re living in the world as it existed around one billion years ago, and you are the ancestor of this red algae.

These Mites Give Cheese Its Flavor

S07 E26 • Monday, Dec 18, 2023 • Dec 18 • 11m

Why Picocyanobacteria Might Just Outlast All Of Us

S07 E27 • Tuesday, Jan 9, 2024 • Jan 9 • 9m

In the northeast Atlantic Ocean, plankton populations aren’t looking like they used to. And at the center of it all are tiny, photosynthetic bacteria called picocyanobacteria who may just outlast us all.

We Built A Tardigrade Trap, And It Worked

S07 E28 • Monday, Jan 15, 2024 • Jan 15 • 10m

We don’t know if there are many rites of passage institutionalized among amateur microscopists. But we have to imagine that, as people find themselves navigating the microcosmos for the first time, they’re often on the lookout for tardigrades.

The Microbial Universe That Makes Kombucha

S07 E29 • Monday, Jan 22, 2024 • Jan 22 • 10m

When you think of kombucha, you might think of a nice, refreshing, healthy drink, one that’s exceptionall good for your microbiome. What we here at Journey to the Microcosmos think of is a terrarium…a place where a whole ecosystem exists, trapped in glass.

This Microbe Hasn't Been Seen Since The 1930s

S07 E30 • Monday, Jan 29, 2024 • Jan 29 • 10m

After an absence of almost 90 years, we’ve found a rare ciliate last written about about in 1933.

What Makes A Microbe Rare?

S07 E31 • Monday, Feb 12, 2024 • Feb 12 • 11m

In the microcosmos—where the organisms vastly outnumber us, where what we find in a single pool of water can change from day to day—it makes us as what it mean for a microbe to be rare?

These Tiny Crustaceans Hate Change

S07 E32 • Monday, Feb 19, 2024 • Feb 19 • 10m

One of the fascinating aspects of microscopy is the way you can look so deeply into something that it becomes unrecognizable. What could look like a stained glass window could actually turn out to be... a hopping shrimp?

This special diatom is having a very bad day

S07 E33 • Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024 • Feb 28 • 10m

It’s hard to count how many times we’ve encountered diatoms on Journey to the Microcosmos. However, we've always talked about the more colorful variety of diatom, and not the ones that are colorless.

We Fed Our Microbes Blood So You Don't Have To

S07 E34 • Monday, Mar 4, 2024 • Mar 4 • 8m

If you’ve clicked on this video, we assume it’s because you read the title, “We fed our microbes blood so you don’t have to,” and immediately asked the question everyone asks when a youtuber says they did something so you don’t have to: but why?

These Slugs Led Us to the Last Good Place on the Internet

S07 E35 • Monday, Mar 11, 2024 • Mar 11 • 13m

If you were asked to describe what a sea slug is, you might be tempted to go with the straightforward response: it’s a slug that lives in the sea. And you know, you wouldn’t be wrong.

How Do We Find Cancer?

S07 E36 • Monday, Mar 25, 2024 • Mar 25 • 13m

Usually on Journey to the Microcosmos, we spend our time delving into the microscopic world and the surprising things that microbes have to teach us. But today, we would like to talk about Hank Green, and what was his cancer.

Watch a Stentor Fix Itself

S07 E37 • Monday, Apr 15, 2024 • Apr 15 • 9m

Today James, our master of microscopes, is using a microscopy slide as a cutting board, chopping away at the slide to end up with a bunch of individual stentors.

This Amoeba Made Armor From Its Dead Enemies

S07 E38 • Monday, Apr 22, 2024 • Apr 22 • 9m

This amoeba has a shell around it, which seems like a pretty good idea. The world at large is full of predators, and shells seem like a straightforward strategy to ward those predators off. But what if this amoeba’s shell wasn’t just a form of protection? What if it was actually dangerous?

We Found Something Strange in Portugal

S07 E39 • Monday, Apr 29, 2024 • Apr 29 • 10m

Sometimes, the microcosmos can take a little while to surprise. You have to be patient, enjoying the familiar sights as you wait for something new.

We've Been Looking For This Purple Amoeba for 6 Years!

S07 E40 • Monday, May 6, 2024 • May 6 • 9m

We know that it’s bad form to return to the same word over and over again here on Journey to the Microcosmos. But whenever we write about amoeba, we will probably say the word “blob” a lot.

You Have Something in Common With This Horrifying Tube Worm

S07 E41 • Monday, May 13, 2024 • May 13 • 11m

When James, our master of microscopes, was looking through samples he’d received from Spain, he didn’t expect to see this—a creature straight out of a horror movie, with dark reddish brown eyes and tentacles streaming out of its mouth.

Tiny Mysteries from the Black Sea

S07 E42 • Tuesday, May 28, 2024 • May 28 • 8m

When you think of mussels and clams and other bivalve animals, you might think of something as shelled and static, perhaps sitting on your plate at a fancy restaurant. But before the mussel got to your plate, it led a life—and all things considered, a surprisingly active one.

We Found a Very, Very Tiny Kraken

S07 E43 • Monday, Jun 10, 2024 • Jun 10 • 8m

Our Master of Microscopes James was fascinated by something he found in some samples he had been given from Portugal. Something that would lead us to a kraken in the microcosmos…but how?

How Does The Microcosmos Change With the Seasons?

S07 E44 • Monday, Jun 24, 2024 • Jun 24 • 12m

We Spent a Year Looking at Microbes in a Polish Pond Have you ever wondered what seasons look like to a microbe? How they navigate the highs, the lows, and all the muddy, slushy in-betweens?

Why Are Ciliates So Hairy?

S07 E45 • Tuesday, Jul 9, 2024 • Jul 9 • 12m

For James, our master of microscopes, the immense breadth has made ciliates a bit of an obsession. Whether he’s hunting down a rare species, or documenting the behavior of something more familiar, there’s always something spectacular in this group.

What These Microbes Teach Us About Free Will

S07 E46 • Monday, Jul 22, 2024 • Jul 22 • 9m

We’re focusing today on a Journey to the Microcosmos favorite: the ciliates, the single-celled eukaryotes covered in hair-like structures called cilia. We want to be more self-centered and explore what ciliates have taught us about ourselves.

Microscopic Beauty from a Nuclear Test Site

S07 E47 • Monday, Aug 5, 2024 • Aug 5 • 9m

James, our master of microscopes, seems like a tough person to get a gift for. What do you get the person who has the entirety of the microcosmos available to him with just a glimpse through a lens?

Why Do Planarians Have Those Triangles on their Heads?

S07 E48 • Monday, Aug 19, 2024 • Aug 19 • 8m

Flatworms are kind of adorable. And they have keep scientists up at night for a few reasons.

A Collection of Tiny Universes

S07 E49 • Tuesday, Sep 3, 2024 • Sep 3 • 8m

Whenever we get to watch things through the microscope together, it’s like we’re transported to another world—or maybe another universe, or dimension. Time and space feel off somehow, with sights that are slower and faster and nearer and farther all at once.

Some Microbes Also Take Naps

S07 E50 • Monday, Sep 16, 2024 • Sep 16 • 10m

One thing we’ve heard from many of you is that this show is your sleep show, that soothing bit of media you put on when you need to slow down your brain and drift off. We take that as a huge compliment. It’s nice to know we can be a part of your relaxation journey.