This is life in a completely different dimension, the dimension that our naked eye can’t see. It is so fascinating to be able to observe the creatures that live there! . The water stream in this video connects to a little forest pond, so the stream only has water when it rains enough to overfill the pond. This means that very soon this stream will dry again. What will happen to the microscopic creatures in this stream? Well, many of these creatures will enter into a state of suspended animation while they wait for water to come back. In other words, life is really everywhere in the forest. We may not see them because they are too small or they may be in suspended animation, but really every inch of soil and every drop of water in the forest contains life! . By the way, moss acts as a microscopic forest where lots of microorganisms live. So by taking a piece of moss with my sample, I ensured that my sample would contain more microscopic creatures. . These are the creatures you saw in the video in order of appearance: Rotifer (check out those rotating “wheels” attracting food to its mouth! Diatoms (inside the diatoms you can see little droplets of oil) Another rotifer Cyanobacteria Filamentous algae Polychaete Colonial algae Desmids Nematode …and a little piece of decomposing moss! Life is beautiful (literally!) . For this video I used a Leica ZOOM 200 stereoscope and an Olympus BX41 microscope at up to 400x magnification #biology #microscopy #microscope #microorganisms #ecology #forest #drbioforever

I find it fascinating that in this forest of filamentous algae there were lots of microscopic creatures living their lives. Despite the rapid current of the water, these micro-creatures still managed to make the clumps of algae filaments their home. . I found several different species of ciliated protozoans. I spent more than an hour observing the incredible movements of the protozoans portrayed at the beginning of the video! So cool how they could attach to the algae filaments and how from time to time they would disattach, change their shape and start swimming. . In the video you can also see some of the diatoms that I found (both in colonies and by themselves). I am always amazed at how abundant diatoms are in any environment that contains water!! . …and yes, even the filamentous algae itself is incredibly beautiful under the microscope. . For this video I used a Leica ZOOM 200 stereoscope and an Olympus BX41 microscope at up to 400x magnification #biology #microscopy #microscope #protozoans #diatoms #ecology #algae #drbioforever

As atmospheric CO2 levels increase, so does the amount of CO2 that dissolves in the oceans. When CO2 dissolves in ocean water, it forms carbonic acid, which makes the oceans more acidic. . A lot of ocean creatures build calcium carbonate shells or calcium carbonate skeletons. As you can see in the video, calcium carbonate structures are weakened when exposed to an acid. . Ocean acidification impacts organisms that use calcium carbonate to build their shells and skeletons such as corals, shellfish, plankton, fish… making them more vulnerable. . In other words, ocean acidification disrupts marine food webs, which in turn causes economic problems for us humans as this affects the resources that we can obtain from the oceans. . Ocean acidification is yet another consequence of the rise of CO2 in our atmosphere. . The acid that I used in this video is 1M hydrochloric acid. The chemical reaction that this acid produces when mixed to calcium carbonate is different from the chemical reaction that carbonic acid produces, but in both cases the calcium carbonate structures are weakened. . For this video I used an Olympus CX31 microscope and up to 200x magnification. #microscope #microscopy #globalwarming #carbondioxide #oceanacidification #shells #motherofpearl #drbioforever

Why do we breathe? You may say “because we need oxygen” But why do we need oxygen? Our cells need oxygen to burn fuels by cellular respiration, which is the main way cells produce the energy that they need. But why do cells in the body need energy? They need energy to do whatever type of work that they may need to do (e.g. muscle cells need energy to be able to contract). But cells also need energy to just stay alive (being alive requires plenty of energy too!). So, if cells do not get oxygen, they stop working and can die pretty quickly. The respiratory system facilitates the process of getting oxygen from the air and passing the oxygen to the blood so that the oxygen can be transported and delivered to all the cells of the body. When cells use oxygen to produce energy by cellular respiration, they generate CO2 as a byproduct. Blood will also carry CO2 from the cells to the lungs so that we get CO2 out of our body. In other words, every time that we inhale (breathe in), we take oxygen into our body and every time we exhale (breathe out), we take CO2 out of our body. . The more efficiently our lungs are able to facilitate the taking in of oxygen and the getting out of CO2, the easier it is for the body cells to keep on producing energy. When the lungs get damaged, the lungs have more difficulties getting oxygen in and CO2 out and this becomes a serious problem for the physiology of the body. . Smoking can damage the lungs and therefore reduce the efficiency of the breathing process. Another thing that smoking does is to expose the lung cells to carcinogenic chemicals from the tobacco combustion. Over time, exposing lung cells to these chemicals can lead to mutations in their DNA, which eventually can turn these cells into cancerous cells. . For this video I used a Leica ZOOM 200 stereoscope and an Olympus BX41 microscope at up to 1000x magnification #microscopy #microscope #physiology #lung #histology #lungofsmoker #alveoli #drbioforever

Mosses are so fascinating. They normally do not get a lot of attention because of their size. However, despite their simplicity, mosses are so incredibly beautiful both, at the macroscopic level as well as at the microscopic level. Also, mosses are ecologically very important (they are pioneer species!). . I love staring at mosses and this is why I love making videos portraying their beauty at the microscopic level. Are you a moss lover? In this video I look at two different types of mosses. Which one do you think is more beautiful? . For this video I used an Olympus CX31 microscope at 40x, 100x, 200x, and 400x magnification. #microscopy #microscope #moss #plantbiology #naturalshapes #artinnature #biologicalart #drbioforever