Journey to the Microcosmos - Season 1

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Meet the Microcosmos

1 - Meet the Microcosmos

Air Date: June 24, 2019

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

2 - How Microscopic Hunters Get Their Lunch

Air Date: July 1, 2019

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

3 - Stentors: Single-Celled Giants

Air Date: July 8, 2019

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?

4 - How Do Microorganisms Reproduce?

Air Date: July 15, 2019

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

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

Air Date: July 22, 2019

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

6 - Tardigrades: Chubby, Misunderstood, & Not Immortal

Air Date: July 29, 2019

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?

7 - How Do Protozoa Get Around?

Air Date: August 5, 2019

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

8 - Diatoms: Tiny Factories You Can See From Space

Air Date: August 12, 2019

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

9 - Mysterious Jiggly Crystals and Other Intracellular Structures

Air Date: August 20, 2019

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?

10 - How Do Colonies Help Microorganisms Survive?

Air Date: August 26, 2019

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

11 - Death in the Microcosmos

Air Date: September 2, 2019

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

12 - Euglenoids: Single-Celled Shapeshifters

Air Date: September 9, 2019

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

13 - Hydra: Stretchy, Speedy, & Probably Immortal

Air Date: September 16, 2019

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

14 - Relax and Enjoy the View

Air Date: September 23, 2019

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

15 - Life Without Oxygen? Challenge Accepted

Air Date: October 1, 2019

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

16 - Rotifers: Charmingly Bizarre & Often Ignored

Air Date: October 7, 2019

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

17 - The Microscopic Circle of Life

Air Date: October 14, 2019

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

18 - Amoebas: Occasional Brain-Eaters

Air Date: October 21, 2019

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

The Colors of the Microcosmos

19 - The Colors of the Microcosmos

Air Date: October 28, 2019

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

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

Air Date: November 4, 2019

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?

21 - Are Microbes Good or Bad for Humans?

Air Date: November 11, 2019

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

22 - Paramecium: The White Rat of Ciliates

Air Date: November 18, 2019

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

23 - Microorganisms Are Cleaning the Water You Drink

Air Date: November 25, 2019

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)

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

Air Date: December 3, 2019

What Humans and Stentors Have in Common

25 - What Humans and Stentors Have in Common

Air Date: December 9, 2019

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

26 - Gastrotrichs: Four Day Old Grandmothers

Air Date: December 16, 2019

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

We Recorded Some Strange Goop. What Is It?

27 - We Recorded Some Strange Goop. What Is It?

Air Date: December 23, 2019

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

What If All the Microbes Disappeared?

28 - What If All the Microbes Disappeared?

Air Date: December 31, 2019

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

29 - Desmids: The Symmetrical Algae That's Full of Crystals

Air Date: January 6, 2020

Microbes Don’t Actually Look Like Anything

30 - Microbes Don’t Actually Look Like Anything

Air Date: January 14, 2020