Journey to the Microcosmos - Season 4

First aired: 2/22/2021 25 episodes

Episodes

1. Can Algae Fuel Our Cars?

Aired: 2/22/2021

As the search for alternative energy sources continues, scientists are looking to the microcosmos and wondering: Can we use algae oil to power our cars, our airplanes, and maybe even our spaceships?

2. How Do Microorganisms Pee?

Aired: 3/1/2021

3. Becoming Your Own Baby Through Conjugation

Aired: 3/8/2021

4. Getting to Know Our Single-Celled Ancestors

Aired: 3/15/2021

5. Your Screen Is Covered In Human Blood

Aired: 3/22/2021

6. Heliozoa: Round, Sticky, and Covered in Spikes

Aired: 3/29/2021

7. How Diatoms Build Their Beautiful Shells

Aired: 4/5/2021

8. Leeuwenhoek: The First Master of Microscopes

Aired: 4/12/2021

9. The Fantastic Feet of the Microcosmos

Aired: 4/19/2021

10. The Chaotic Life of Seashore Ciliates

Aired: 4/26/2021

11. We Found a Super Rare Microbe!

Aired: 5/3/2021

After over three years of searching for it, our Master of Microscopes has found a Spirostomum semivirescens!

12. Bursaria: Giant Gravity-Sensing Vacuums

Aired: 5/11/2021

The big Roomba of the microcosmos is fascinating to watch as it lives its sink or swim life.

13. The Diversity of Shapes in the Microcosmos

Aired: 5/17/2021

From trumpets and spirals to floral arrangements, single cell organisms take on many strange and unique shapes. But they don't look like that just for fun, their shapes can help them with movement, hunting, and even defending themselves.

14. Looking at Tardigrade Sperm and Other Reproducing Swimmers

Aired: 5/31/2021

Original Title: Tardigrade Sperm and Other Reproducing Swimmers Not all hypotheses need to be good. In fact, many of them are terrible. It’s just that when you’re trying to understand the world, you might find yourself believing that there are tiny humans living inside the heads of sperm, and we're here to tell you, that's not how it works.

15. Flinching Saves Lives in the Microcosmos

Aired: 6/7/2021

16. Some Eggs Don't Need Sperm to Make Babies

Aired: 6/14/2021

17. We Upgraded Our Microscope... Again!

Aired: 6/21/2021

18. Unsolved Mysteries of the Microcosmos

Aired: 6/28/2021

Sometimes we come across microbes that we just can't learn much about, or that don't fit into a larger story. So, this week we're sharing a few of those mysterious microbes with you.