#closterium

Closterium sp.

"Just think about it: if you were asked to draw a cell, what would you draw? Maybe your imagination is better than mine, but I would probably sketch out a vaguely round thing, maybe add some extra hairs on the outside if I'm feeling creative. Nature has a lot more clever ideas though. Trumpets and spirals and floral arrangements, all made out of single cells."

Journey to the Microcosmos- The Diversity of Shapes in the Microcosmos

"It's also easy to look at the existence of a living thing and assume that every detail of its being has been optimized through eons of mutations and selection for a specific and there is an extent to which that's true. The world places all sorts of demands on life: the need for food, for reproduction, for warmth, for light, for dark, for movement. We respond in kind by prioritizing and balancing those needs, and shape is one way we do that."

Journey to the Microcosmos- The Diversity of Shapes in the Microcosmos

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

"Recently, we did our first ever Journey to the Microcosmos livestream. Some of you may even have been there, whether that's because you wanted to see the microbes that James, our master of microscopes, was showing live from his own microscope, or because you want to see our faces. To be honest, we'd understand if you were there mostly for the microbes, but what ever the reason, thank you for joining us."

Journey to the Microcosmos- Quote from We Found a Super Rare Microbe!, Images from 500k Celebration Livestream!

Images Originally Captured by Jam's Germs

Note: shots were not labeled, the following description is my best guess

“The optical path length is a function of both the distance between two points and the refractive index of the material the light is travelling through. Basically, denser samples have longer optical path lengths. Phase contrast microscopy takes advantage of that, making areas with longer optical path lengths look darker.”

Journey to the Microcosmos- We Upgraded Our Microscope!

In Order: Phacus gigas 400x, Cercaria 200x, Diatom attracts bacteria 400x, Closterium and Surirella 400x, Euglena 400x, Diatoms and green algea 400x, Stentor polymorphus 40x, Nemotode 200x

Journey to the Microcosmos- The Complicated Legacy of Lynn Margulis

Images Originally Captured by Jam’s Germs