[gentle music playing]
Good morning, John.
In a single drop of water, thousands of organisms can live and thrive.
An ecosystem, all on its own, in a space the size of your fingertip.
Varied, peculiar, intricate, and magnificent.
There's so much we know about these minuscule beasts, but also, many mysteries left.
Often, we talk about exploration like going deep, or high, or far,
but there is a whole other world, within an arm's reach, that, nonetheless, exists outside of our notice.
The world of the microcosmos is as close as we have ever gotten to something truly alien.
[gentle music playing]
Microscopic animals living beside single celled giants.
Diatoms with cell walls made of glass,
massive amoebas oozing,
ancient mutualistic relationships' astounding mysterious abilities.
I can't quite explain why I am so astounded by this life.
Maybe it's because it was - for almost all of human history- completely invisible and unknown.
Maybe because its discovery transformed how we saw, not just life, but ourselves
and led directly to the improvement of billions of lives.
Maybe it's because it gives us a glimpse at cellular machinery,
the chemical basis for the majesty of life.
Or, maybe it's just because it's really ... pretty,
and these organisms are our neighbors, and I want to know more about them.
But, whatever it is, I am fascinated by it,
and I watch a lot of YouTube videos showcasing this wonderful world.
And then I got so obsessed that I reached out to one of my favorites,
a guy named James who lives in Poland,
and I asked him if he wanted to work together with me on a YouTube channel.
You can find his videos primarily on Instagram. There's a link in the description.
But, we've been working on a channel together for the last few months, and, John, it just launched,
and I love it.
It's called, "Journey to the Micocosmos."
Our first episode is out, and we'll have a new one every week.
It features original music from Andrew Huang, and great design and editing from our people here at Complexly.
Some of the organisms we feature might be familiar, like
we're planning on following a family of tardigrades as they hatch and grow and develop.
Some, will almost certainly be unfamiliar.
But we hope that you will come to love and appreciate them as much as we do.
Like Stentor coeruleus, one of the largest single-celled organisms on Earth,
big enough to be seen with the naked eye.
It's big, and beautiful, and voracious.
The "blue whale" of pond scum.
There's so much to see.
So much to know.
And "Journey to the Microcosmos" will take us there.
Not rapid fire educational, like a lot of the stuff I've done before,
but chill and laid back.
'Cuz that's how I'm feeling sometimes these days.
Though this is not to say there won't be drama.
So
You can watch here
and subscribe here.
It's a very different thing than I have done in the past,
so I really hope you like it.
John, I'll see you on Tuesday.
[gentle music playing]