Extremophiles of Antarctica - Episode 4

[@dashgautier782]

can't wait for episode 5!

[@JamsGerms]

Awesome! Twisty one is, as you guessed, a cyanobacterium in the genus Spirulina. Cannot wait to watch the next episode!

[@ArielWaldman]

Good to confirm! Thanks!

[@wesswingley7441]

Definitely a cyanobacterium and probably a Spirulina, but there are a lot of spiral shaped cyanos. Check out "cyanosite" (I won't post a link in case that's forbidden) for lots of cool images of the crazy variety they come in.

[@ArielWaldman]

Wes Swingley - thanks!

[@foxfax2]

Watching this and seeing you geek out, obviously doing what you love, is wonderful.

[@ArielWaldman]

:)

[@therion108]

Amazing landscape! Closest thing to actually stand on another planet..

[@ArielWaldman]

Totally.

[@marco.trevisan]

Ariel, this is breathtakingly amazing! I have been interested in extremophiles since I was a teenager, watching you going to collect them, giving so many details about the adventure, is exciting and inspiring. Your adventure reminds me of the first books I read by Jules Verne, back when I was still learning to read. I should figure out how to get a similar project, but being my area bioinformatics applied to epigenomics I guess it is not going to be straightforward.

[@ArielWaldman]

That's fantastic! Extremophiles are so much fun. Try emailing some biologists who do fieldwork in Antarctica to see if they know of a good pathway for you to try to get down there. There's biologists who go to McMurdo and ones who go to Palmer, of the U.S. stations. I am less familiar with the non-U.S. stations doing biology.

[@marco.trevisan]

@@ArielWaldman Thanks Ariel. I am already looking forward to seeing your next video!

[@sulljoh1]

So cool. It feels like we're on this journey with you! :-) Thanks for posting everything - and my wife loves the space probe leggings BTW

[@ArielWaldman]

So happy to hear that. That has been my goal with these videos. And yay for the space probe leggings!

[@PenPeng]

Thank you for making these videos. Very interesting to see the field camps

[@dustman96]

That is the most incredible camping spot!

[@Cisco8484]

How do you keep from contaminating the samples? I noticed the guy pushed the ice core puck into the bag with his gloves. Maybe he used those same gloves to scratch his face?

[@mythdusterds]

That glacier looks impressive as well as all of Antarctica.

[@outshimed]

This is a cool series. You're really getting after it out there.

[@ArielWaldman]

Thank you!

[@moonwatcher8513]

This series is so amazing, I'm learning a lot from your work. Thanks for sharing!

[@ArielWaldman]

Moon Watcher - thanks for watching!

[@kanvagoyal5216]

wow...It's amazing to see extremophiles. I have done my MS and soon I will start my Ph.D. on soil microbial biogeochemistry topic. One of my dreams is to map the extremophilic community at a continent scale.

[@tayloramesmusic]

Really enjoying watching this journey, I'm incredibly jealous too!

[@zapfanzapfan]

Yay, another episode! Yey, Tardigrade! :-) So, the dark material and microbes have melted their way down into the glacier surface and left a clear ice "window" behind them?

[@ArielWaldman]

Exactly!

[@bluewales73]

Isn't it winter in Antarctica right now? When was this filmed? Is it really so bright and sunny there in July?

[@ArielWaldman]

You’re correct! My expedition was October-December last year when it was summer.

[@chilimartini2076]

Best shots of Antarctica I've ever seen!

[@ArielWaldman]

Sergey Tyukin - wow! happy to help put some good shots into the internet

[@joshuaryan1125]

Very cool!

[@ArielWaldman]

Thanks!

[@joshuaryan1125]

I've just realised how very uncommon it still is to see any footage of Antarctica. I live in Hobart which is a bit of a home base for Antarctic scientific missions and yet we hear nothing about it.

[@MedSou]

*Awesome* 👍👍👍👍

[@ArielWaldman]

MedSou - Thank you!

[@willemvandebeek]

Cannot wait for episode 5! :)

[@ArielWaldman]

:D

[@MrNeilfatmonkey]

This is absolutely wonderful! Aren’t you even slightly worried about the shape shifting alien in the crashed ship?

[@ArielWaldman]

Haha, thanks ;)

[@mythdusterds]

That is so cool. I have never seen anyone able to attach a camera to a microscope. Where do you buy a attachment like that for a telescope at?

[@melanieborup5037]

Hi Ariel - I'm doing my PhD with the University of Tasmania on Antarctic terrestrial micro-invertebrates. Is there a report of your findings from this expedition down to Antarctica? Thanks!

[@YoosufMuneer]

starlink would make a huge difference in terms of internet speed, right?

[@Bastispark]

Why do these holes look like mini meteor impacts? 🤔🤔