Journey to the Microcosmos — Season 1

Aired 24 June 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 1 July 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 8 July 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 15 July 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 22 July 2019 • 10 min

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?"

Aired 29 July 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 5 August 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 12 August 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 20 August 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 26 August 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 2 September 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 9 September 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 16 September 2019 • 10 min

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!

Aired 23 September 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 1 October 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 7 October 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 14 October 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 21 October 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 28 October 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 4 November 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 11 November 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 18 November 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 25 November 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 3 December 2019 • 10 min

Aired 9 December 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 16 December 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 23 December 2019 • 10 min

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

Aired 31 December 2019 • 10 min

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.

Aired 6 January 2020 • 10 min

Aired 14 January 2020 • 10 min