Getting to the Root of Nitrogen Fixation

[@journeytomicro]

The first 100 people to download Endel by clicking the link below will get a free week of audio experiences! app.adjust.com/b8wxub6?campaign=journeytothemicrocosmos_july&adgroup=youtube

[@arunarun581]

Mechanism of hearing and vision plzz

[@nepoc]

How about an Android Google Play link?

[@insAneTunA]

I am from the Netherlands, and as you might have heard my country has to deal with large protests from farmers. The government wants to shut down a substantial amount of farmers because we have a huge nitrogen and ammonia emission problem. That is, we have too much of it. In the Netherlands we have more than 520 large farm animals per square kilometer, and we have an equal amount of poultry and humans at any given moment in time. It's been said that the huge nitrogen and ammonia emissions cause the water and the soil to become too acidic which causes a huge decline in insect, plant and bird numbers and species. But I am wondering what it does to the bacteria when they get too much nitrogen and ammonia to endure? Whether they are directly affected or indirectly because their habitat becomes too acidic for them to live. I want to have a better total understanding how this type of pollution is affecting the ecosystems and in this case the bacteria in particular. Defenders for the farmers pro-dominantly use the defense that nitrogen is good for the plants. But it is like the discussion about the differences between the weather and the climate. They say it is good for the "plants", but plants do not make up the entire ecosystem. And not all the plants like the same conditions. I hope that you or anyone else with a respectable reputation could help me out to get a better total understanding:-)

[@sciencenerd7639]

Nitrogen fixation really blows my mind. I mean here we have all this nitrogen in the atmosphere, but we can't use it. Animals can't get it. Fungi can't get it. Plants can't get it unless they have help from microbes, and even then it's not just any microbe, just certain ones. Thank goodness for metabolically diverse microbes, we couldn't cycle nitrogen without them!

[@diamondisgood4u]

I totally agree with your point but I also find it fascinating that we would never evolve (the way we did) without something being able to utilize and pass on nitrogen. Life would quite literally be completely different

[@rigo1124]

@@diamondisgood4uthat’s like saying why doesn’t life grow with sulfuric acid

[@pyrpoi]

I dont really know of any nitrogen fixing plants that are not also mycorrhizal. Could be wrong, always learning.

[@camatrusaca]

The pro in prokaryotic means professional homie

[@camatrusaca]

​@@pyrpoi homie I'm about to break your mind. (Perhaps) Google nitroplast 😏

[@meepandteep]

I would love to see a video about the symbiosis of rhizobia in the root nodules of leguminous plants! I think they’re anaerobic nitrogen fixing bacteria that live in specialized sacs formed by plants

[@TheTwistedTraceur]

that would be indeed very interesting to check out

[@Sife-db]

I don't know what is it but I'm all for

[@Oxtrooo]

@@Sife-db it's basically fungus that lives in symbiosis with plants by connecting to their roots and they help each other out.

[@IstasPumaNevada]

I had to read this comment twice before I realized I actually had a vague, basic understanding of everything you said. :D I'm proud of my brain.

[@jjk2one]

@@Oxtrooo And if the plant doesn't give the fungus what it wants the fungus goes somewhere else and lets the plant die - simple version

[@sammcmurchie8136]

I gotta say, the sound design of this series is phenomenal. It so perfectly compliments the wonder and alien nature of the microcosmos

[@abagoffrozenspinach]

I study at a university majoring in marine biology and minoring in microbiology and botany, and it is absolutely mindboggling to me how often these videos mirror, to a T, the lectures I attend for my degree. It's so helpful to see everything I'm learning repeated in a short and immersive video format like this. This channel is a gift!!

[@ovo450]

Me too~

[@robertunderwood1011]

It doesn’t begin to explain the complexity of the nitrogen fixation process. For the past hundred years the holy Grail of biochemistry has been to find a way to do this at low temperatures and pressures Very shallow coverage of this very important study

[@RhynoD2]

Oh! Can you guys do an episode on the nitrifying bacteria found in aquatic environments? Nitrobacter and nitrosomas! Another part of the careful nitrogen balance in nitrogen availability is how much of it is in the toxic waste product, ammonia. Nitrifying bacteria are vital for aquatic environments to convert the toxic ammonia into nitrite and nitrate. As an aquarist, I would love to learn more about those guys!

[@Ab3ndcgi]

Bump because I would also like to know more about how excess of fertilizants provokes excess nitrifying bacteria in rivers; and how that excess of bacteria tints the water green, difficulting the correct oxigenation of water and affects aquatic macrorganisms

[@Longhornbeetle]

hey! i have a question, why these microbes are seen as acquatic? aren't they present in our soils? sorry for ignorance

[@TheRogueWolf]

It took time and therapy, but I was able to overcome my nitrogen fixation, and now I have a healthy attitude about it. You can too!

[@limiv5272]

Haha good one

[@MichaelLeightonsKarlyPilkboys]

I don't have a nitrogen problem, I only take it with hydrogen.

[@ArawnOfAnnwn]

@@MichaelLeightonsKarlyPilkboys But how much hydrogen do you take with oxygen each day?

[@bluesioux9538]

I had my memoirs of my nitrogen fixation on my laptop but then I forgot it at the damn repair shop....oh well....

[@markrix]

You cant fix nitrogen until its broken.

[@Beryllahawk]

Those Anabaena really do look like little necklaces, very aesthetically pleasing! I knew about the thing where microbes help plants access nitrogen, but not quite down to the specifics you talk about here, so that was really nifty! Thanks for another great video!

[@marcossoares6199]

As a soybean farmer I know the importance of the nitrogen fixation. We cycle the soybean production with corn , so corn can take advantage of the nitrogen captured by the soybean, wich makes the production far more "Green", without the use of nitrogen fertilizers, and with less cost.

[@deborahrochefort9794]

So lovely to hear about nitrogen fixation, a wonderful process so dear to my heart (and well, yes, the whole world). And a cheerful shoutout to my favorite nitrogen-fixer, Frankia, an endosymbiont of certain trees and shrubs (although it can also be free-living). What a beautiful bacterium is Frankia, with its nitrogen-fixing vesicles looking like glowing lollipops under the microscope, and I sure would be thrilled to see it live on the microscope here, if such a thing should ever happen

[@ChaosMagnet]

This video has made me sadly aware that Nostoc are being more useful to our world than I am. And I’m not even all that upset. You go, little Nostoc!

[@funkylentil6966]

if it makes you feel any better, one little Nostoc can't really do very much. :3

[@joeyhinds6216]

@@funkylentil6966 but it can do a lot for a poor little sweet potato 🥔

[@DeliriumWartner]

Nah man. With a word you can change those around you. A little bit of kindness, compassion, empathy and you can set someone's day, week, year, life off on a completely different path. Bacteria can fix nitrogen but people can fix people

[@DeliriumWartner]

@Pinko Slink Source?

[@gtbkts]

@Pinko Slink No, if a person fixates on helping someone else, to the detriment of their own life, that is a mental illness. Helping your fellow human, and making shure they're mentally well, is a "social" trait that we all have. Do some research, please.

[@kmcsciguy]

I JUST watched an animated video about nitrogen fixation 20 minutes ago, this is awesome that this was posted today!

[@timothylongmore7325]

My favorite nitrogen fixer is the robinia psuedoacacia , the often reviled black locust tree. Considered an invasive outside it's home range but loved by many. Fast growing , rot resistant hard wood with the same caloric value as soft coal! Everyone else in the world is growing this tree on industrial scale for various reasons and we pay farmers to grow beans and corn. I'm growing a small patch on my farm as an experiment and the more I learn the more I respect this nitrogen fixer.

[@glidershower]

Man, it is mindbending that the more we end up knowing about the relationships existing between living organisms, life itself, in our world, _the more we realize we couldn't make sense of it all even if we tried._ That's the one comfort I have left, that even if humanity doesn't learn how to harmonize with nature, _nature will correct humanity and go on its path, with or without us._

[@rianaudin]

Hello from Indonesia, i just want to say i love your video (and other vid too) so much as a science teacher this is very helpfull, thanks a lot. Bless you James and all the people behind this channel. PS:I think James can be a good farmer if he wants to, haha

[@TheTwistedTraceur]

I AM SO PLEASED , to see you take my request for like the second time i think. maybe great minds think alike and more wanted to see what i asked for . but im so happy to see plant stuff upclose like this , thank you

[@АндрейОнищенко-з8х]

To me it's a bit of fun to see sleeping service ad as when I have insomnia I actually use Journey to Microcosmos to fall asleep) Love Hank's voice) So calming down)

[@keithrelyea7997]

Thank you for expressing in near poetry of this fascinating world.

[@robertlapointe4093]

When you were rattling off the sources of nitrogen for plants, I'm surprised you didn't mention those plants that have developed a taste for meat (Venus fly traps, sundews, etc.).

[@DylanRenke]

kind of fits into the "death and decay of other living organisms"

[@FredFS4558]

Hi! Very good, thank you. Can you guys please make an episode on how to keep a pond water crystal clear with natural methods.

[@andrew24601]

It’s your fault that I have four planted fish tanks. I first got fascinated when you talked about daphnia as fish food, and one day it just hit and spiralled and now I have about 40 fish and many, many plants of about eight different species. The 50 gallons of fish tank in my home is all your fault. I’m not upset (I’m quite happy with my aquatic obsession, in fact), I’m just mentioning that it’s entirely your fault.

[@pittypatterputzzler5311]

This is the voice I love to hear.

[@AccidentalNinja]

I've been thinking of asking, as a joke, "why are we so fixated on nitrogen?", but this answered the question seriously.

[@MaryAnnNytowl]

Well, of _course_ James would rescue a sweet potato! And it's growing very nicely too, obviously very happy there!

[@damonikapolk7824]

This is absolutely fascinating.

[@rubi22teresa]

Thank You 💘

[@ryanlange6766]

Visibly excited when I saw the title of this video, must now plant sweet potatoes everywhere

[@Graphomite]

*Potato:* "P-Please let me die in peace." *James:* "Eat the nitrate. _I want to watch."_

[@mozartantonio1919]

this was a good one. Great images!

[@Koreyite]

Well said Hank.

[@punkdigerati]

Does Endel have a library of your soothing tones, Hank?

[@jaspurr7467]

Loved the video, hi from the Netherlands ;)

[@dotanwolf5640]

so your government decided to ban nitrogen?!

[@Catastropheshe]

I wonder why music is so ominous while the vid is about sweet sweet potato thriving in some mosquito tank 😂

[@asrarqueisi]

This is so incredibly interesting.

[@JohnBrown-wd9dx]

Could you do a short on your microscope and what it actually looks like?

[@VoidHalo]

Isn't nostoc the same stuff people used to (and sometimes still do) think was star jelly?

[@TheRealMirCat]

I will always think of War Games when hearing "Nitrogen Fixation."

[@pain_of_rose]

But they don't know about Joshua

[@TheRealMirCat]

@@pain_of_rose That's also my first name. The notification with your comment popped up without context and scared the crap outta me. heh

[@pain_of_rose]

@@TheRealMirCat omfg I'm sorry that's funny 🤣🤣🤣

[@connorhinsley6991]

Why does is always take me like a full minute to recognize Hank's voice in these vids

[@thatoneguy8512]

If those mosquitoes are anything like the mosquitoes I'm familiar with, then (SPOILERS!) those mosquitoes are all about biting people to suck their blood.

[@mustbegross]

As an engineer who learn practicality of science there is some sense of longing on the beauty of science when no human involved in the process

[@priyanka.8895]

thank you sir 🙏

[@journeytomicro]

The first 100 people to download Endel by clicking the link below will get a free week of audio experiences! app.adjust.com/b8wxub6?campaign=journeytothemicrocosmos_july&adgroup=youtube

[@brendakrieger7000]

Extremely fascinating🔬

[@rscottwilson1]

great show

[@subashanirjit7942]

can we buy these videos for commercial use?

[@foxhazhax4845]

I found this episode especially enjoyable 🦊💜🔬

[@TarkMcCoy]

Come for the science, Stay for the ASMR...

[@jimf1964]

Cool video. It’s so awesome to hear how complex and related the world is. Does anyone here have a clue why Holland is claiming the need to steal farms over nitrogen?…..I mean of course apart from the PM's brother co owning a huge food service with Gates

[@dotanwolf5640]

in holland they got really fixated on nitrigen lately...

[@corpsup8283]

This video was sooo absorbing 😊

[@TheTwistedTraceur]

id love to see a slime mold extending for food close up, how it exfolds itself

[@potatolard9643]

Is it possible to do a video on the Cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus??? It’s the most abundant photosynthetic organism on earth!

[@joshuaharrison9331]

But you didn't mention the hæmoglobin that the plants make to provide the anoxic conditions for the enzyme to function!

[@pain_of_rose]

Love your vids

[@angelsset795]

Sería chido poder oírlo en Español 👌

[@lmvanderlinden4129]

Stikstof binden ,hoe ze dat voor elkaar krijgen ? Ik denk met enzymen .

[@bigbrady2244]

nice job, once again.

[@sacielo]

wow (I spent several minutes in awe, this is the only ocmment I"m capable of)

[@SpecialSoldier109]

Hank is the coolest person on Earth

[@TheHappyCoder]

Please make more videos related to farming

[@KGTiberius]

📍? Can you do a deeper dive into collaborative microbiology? The exchange of nitrogen was a great teaser. So much to explore in such symbiotic relationships.

[@kluless1352]

Finally!

[@juansebastiancastillo5575]

This video makes me think about life origins itself When I look at images of nitrogenese I find cofactor FeMco and i've been wondering if someone here knows if the N atom in its structure is naturally there or is just trying to show its function :p

[@syconsenti5904]

So when is the story about the mosquitoes going to be told?

[@VeronicaGorositoMusic]

Never would have guessed that Nature has an OCD with Nitrogen.

[@EdiboPraise-fg4ty]

This is good for student

[@heckyes]

Can you do an episode on algae that are candidates for bio-fuel?

[@Guydude777]

Radical

[@st1220music]

0:35

[@richardgaspar4590]

Such a coincidence i was eating sweet potatoes while watching this video.

[@stax6092]

Cool.

[@noahway13]

Does James have a face we can see?

[@Smoggyrob1]

Please cover rhizophagy. I just learned that plant roots absorb and either eat or release bacteria, as if they were ranchers and bacteria were cattle. Plants are not vegetarians.

[@megatronyeets]

This sounds fascinating!

[@Katiethewizard]

People who own aquariums watching this and understanding everything

[@ThirstyB3N]

Who else sees a half of a sad face about in the center at 7:02 o.O

[@strifera]

I was today years old when I learned there can be multicellular bacteria.

[@strifera]

@Innrex Regardless, whether these are considered colonial organisms or a multicellular organism, I still found out multicellular bacteria are a thing by following up on rabbit hole starting with the heterocysts from the video. I admittedly am not yet familiar with the topic enough to determine how the line is drawn, but I can confidently say magnetoglobus multicellularis, for example, exists.

[@billfarley9015]

When lightning passes through the air it creates nitrates so there was plenty of nitrogen fixing going on before life on Earth appeared.

[@Dragrath1]

To be fair early in the solar system environments were probably generally quite reduced due to the abundance of hydrogen that had yet to escape the terrestrial worlds such that it wouldn't have been a problem. Of course the Lunar formation impact my have changed that somewhat but still under the Synestia model Earth and our moon would rather have precipitated out of a roiling disk of gas so at least some of that primordial atmosphere would likely have persisted for some time.

[@biohazard512]

Whilst this is some amazing microscope footage, this video does leave me a bit frustrated, as do some others on the channel. The narrator goes into what nitrogen fixing is, which is something I covered in secondary school. I want to know what's going on - what are those microbes we are seeing in the current clip, what are they doing and how/why are they doing it? Look at works by David Attenborough - first and foremost he always talks through what is happening in the clip. Imagine in one of his docs, he is showing something happening in a rainforest - say a predator hunting or a bird, but instead of guiding us through the hunt being depicted, or talking about the bird on screen, he is just talking about how trees make oxygen.

[@babygorilla4233]

Ooh has this channel ever gotten its hands on a sample of the giant mutent mexican mountain corn goo?! I'm dead serious theres a rural community in Mexico that cultivated a type of maze that excreets clear slime from its airal roots. They cultivated a symbiosis with a nitrogen fixing bacteria that dripps into the soil. Nitrogen fixing corn! Do you realize how terrible American soil quality is due to corn being the only(majorly) subsidized crop? We need M M M M Massive Mutant Mexican Maze.

[@jimurrata6785]

Is James not farming mosquitoes?

[@driverjayne]

I think growing animals makes you a rancher, not a farmer

[@metalskirmish]

@@driverjayne but ranching mosquitoes sounds like you're gonna eat em...

[@jimurrata6785]

@@driverjayne Perhaps. 🙄 I've never heard of a poultry rancher or a dairy rancher

[@TheRogueWolf]

Yeah, you all laugh, but you've never had to face a mosquito stampede....

[@frontiersinpsychiatry6179]

Nitrogen is essential for living organisms. In humans, nitrogen is required for the building of amino acids / protein, and nucleic acids. Although air's major constituent is nitrogen, its predominant form of diatomic nitrogen makes it useless for humans.Luckily some microbes have nitrogenase enzyme which, in the absence of oxygen, can convert diatomic nitrogen into other useful forms of nitrogen!

[@derrickbonsell]

Bodybuilders should be great fans of nitrogen fixation. No nitrogen no amino acids, no aminos no protein.

[@vertyisprobablydead]

I'm not paying $50 a year for random music lol.

[@manco828]

Scott Adams insists it's all just a simulation.

[@pisti7252]

The more we know, the more nitrogen we'll fixate

[@itzakpoelzig330]

Is that a dead fish in the sweet potato/ mosquito tank? I'm so glad I don't live with James.

[@dannysullivan12345]

I’m so high on weed 😂

[@jp-um2fr]

Runner beans are pretty good at harvesting nitrogen. They end up with a nodular root mabe 150mm long x 15mm'. Crushed this makes quite a good fertilizer. Me ? My garden gets it's fix from sulphate of ammonia and all the other 'anti Greenie's' I can get hold of. Personally I would rather eat tomatoes not fed raw human waste. If you think that does not happen one wonders what planet you are on.

[@RickySTT]

Can you blast those mosquitoes with UV until they explode? I’d love to see that under a microscope.

[@rhmdrhmd-i5i]

EVERYONE knows what nitrogen fixation is, cut to the interesting visuals and specific mechanisms.

[@JimBob-vu2fe]

I am high as fuck and this is scary as fuck, not recommended to watch this while high lmao

[@JimBob-vu2fe]

Lmao

[@the.mermaid.scientist]

I had a pleasant enjoyable experience, sorry you didn't.

[@JimBob-vu2fe]

@@the.mermaid.scientist all good, not everything can be nice while high

[@scriptorium-in-candelight]

Its weird how people live in the USA and have this insatiable appetite to use health and happiness against you......like your to calm and they want to take it away from you for ---their sickness--interest

[@jimsimpson59]

★★★★★

[@hotdrippyglass]

+++++