Bacteria That Only Want To Head North

[@journeytomicro]

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[@michaelmayhem350]

Curiousity stream > magellan

[@SoleSolSoul]

Hi!!! Have you all looked into the electromagnetic field changes and the bacteria behavior? Or cellular, emf .. like the decline of bees, human health effects, birds.. ya know all of the rest of us … but with such clear behavior/polarity in these… ??

[@michaelk.3811]

*Journey to the Microcosmos* Wow, I never thought bacteria would even be magnetized! 🤯

[@Wirely]

One of things I love about this video is how, even at 1000x power magnification, these bacteria are too tiny to really see the details of the individuals. But the important observation of their behavior is evident in the organisms as a group, which is clearly evident, regardless of magnification. I think this distinction between studying life as individuals versus studying life as groups is fascinating.

[@PurtyPurple]

Groups vs individuals is basically the distinction between psychology and sociology

[@m.lilian]

@@PurtyPurple or even better, between zoology or botany and ecology. where ecology will always give you a more complete understanding of a species, because no species is ever an island!

[@SoulDelSol]

@@m.lilian more of a gestalt than an unhelpful fragmentation

[@charlespax]

In the northern hemisphere, the northern side of a lake would generally get more sun than the southern side. I expect this would be a better place to live and find food. It would be interesting to see if there is a correlation between bacteria density and location through a body of water.

[@GalileoAV]

I didn't think about that, but it makes sense.

[@dunmadun351]

I think you have it backwards my dude. Northern hemisphere theres more sun on the south side not north. Thats why they always say put your plants on a south facing window.

[@fnorgen]

@@dunmadun351 Oh but you see, lakes are located in depressions in the landscape, so the south end of a lake is more likely to be shadowed by a hill at noon.

[@glennberry4829]

There probably is. But there will be many factors. Recent weather, inflows/outflows of any kind, etc. As for weather, I recall a circa 20 acre surface area lake (not circular). If the wind had been blowing in the same direction for a few days, the small plankton eating fish that could be used as bait would tend to be schooled at the end of the lake the wind had been blowing towards. This would have been so they could get their food that was micro-cosmos food that had been concentrated there by the wind.

[@Stettafire]

@@priapulida No idea what you mean. If you have a plant you'd put it in the south facing window. The window on the south side facing south. Not the "north side facing south"

[@JuanMartinezYouTube]

I immediately recognized Hank’s voice and I just lost it. I gotta say I love this calm, serene side of it. Also, the visuals are incredible!

[@ShadowHawkThe3rd]

“… mysterious and enigmatic. You might even call them Magnetic” I did not expect such a strong dad joke while watching a microcosmos episode.

[@vaibhavkumar1453]

I was really thinking the same 😅

[@karlvuleta]

I like to think that long pause before he speaks again is to allow fellow dads to finish their applause

[@thetruthexperiment]

The narrator is not a good person, so it’s likely the writer isn’t either. Since I am a microscopist I wont judge my peer as harshly. But really, this narrator guy is not good people.

[@Laura-bq4um]

@@thetruthexperiment proof

[@1.4142]

Some interesting things I learned from reading wikipedia: Magnetotactic bacteria thrive in the transition zone between oxygen rich and oxygen poor water, and are thought to have evolved as an adaption to the reactive oxygen species from the Great Oxygenation Event. Magnetotactic bacterial cells have been used to determine south magnetic poles in meteorites and rocks containing fine-grained magnetic minerals, but large scale can only come when scientist figure out how to genetic engineer e coli to synthesize magnetosomes.

[@johncarter40101]

Hi , I have a few questions :- 1. Is it just the magnetite that this bacteria uses to align themselves to the magnetic field line or some other compounds in the bacteria is also responsible. 2. Don't they get attracted to magnet itself or they just align. 3. Can they show this strategy with normal magnet also other than earth's magnetic field line. Please reply,. Thank you

[@micropeace]

As it turned out, tiny particles of magnetite are enclosed inside the bacterium. The size of each such particle is only 50 nm on each side. In different bacteria, these can be either magnetite (Fe3O4) granules or greigite (Fe3S4) granules. These granules are surrounded by a lipoprotein membrane.

[@johncarter40101]

Hi , I have a few questions :- 1. Is it just the magnetite that this bacteria uses to align themselves to the magnetic field line or some other compounds in the bacteria is also responsible. 2. Don't they get attracted to magnet itself or they just align. 3. Can they show this strategy with normal magnet also other than earth's magnetic field line. Please reply, Thank you

[@Varizen87]

The real question no one is asking: what happens when a north traveling bacterium crosses paths with a south traveling bacterium walking the same line? Do they fight and argue and refuse to budge while the world builds around them?

[@TheRmbomo]

Like two pawns in a chess match

[@Varizen87]

@@TheRmbomo my reference was more about the Dr. Seuss story The Zaxx but this is equally valid.

[@onlyontuesdays99]

Maybe they stick and can't separate!

[@patimationstudios]

Finally!

[@valiang8867]

They will not move east, they will not move west! Moving north and south is what they do best!

[@callistoancrater1582]

Truly a treat seeing so many bacteria through dark-field microscopy as opposed to the light-field microscopy I’ve become acclimated to seeing them under. Always putting out such high quality videos, thank you Mr. Green, Mr. Weiss and team:)

[@SydWinecke]

I had learned about this concept in my college microbiology class and never clasped it very well. The explanation and visual representation is both clarifying and beautiful.

[@magellantv]

Whoa! This is seriously so fascinating - we're mesmerized.

[@cesarvidelac]

A little off topic but although 'm bilingual, I'm pleased to know you are offering a soundtrack in Spanish! This will help a lot to share this wonderful videos. Thanks!

[@LeafseasonMagbag]

It would have been cool to talk about the incredible purity of the magnetic crystals inside of magnetosomes. And also did you know the shape of these magnetic crystals are lightly species-specific?

[@zero.the.prototype]

Thanks for another charming and inspirational escape from the macrocosmos. You're giving new meaning to collecting samples in the field. 😑

[@jyyer]

3:28 if the bacteria were swimming north, they would be attracted by the S pole of a magnet, not the N pole. The Earth's north pole is the S pole of its magnetic field.

[@RedSquirrelHunter]

So does this mean all the bacteria will migrate to geological north no matter which hemisphere it is in?

[@alpers.2123]

They are attracted to north pole of the earth which is a south pole, magnetically speaking.

[@valeriegrey8328]

yay, i’m always so happy to see y’all uploaded

[@sviatoslavlavrov8087]

4:35 mass of chew sits

[@osmia]

James, I love the way your mind works!

[@JamsGerms]

[@TheRogueWolf]

Are you sure that they weren't just attracted to James's magnetic personality?

[@JamsGerms]

[@Beanedict_C]

I love all of these videos, but this is a particularly cool one!

[@nariu7times328]

James is awesome :)

[@AdityaMehendale]

The magnetic pole at the "north" pole of the earth is actually a south pole (that's why all compasses' north-poles get attracted towards it). This means that Hank's description at 3:28 ought to be exactly the other way around (the bacteria should move towards the strongest nearby south-pole, i.e. the south pole of the magnet). Can James please confirm?

[@Jaynepvg]

the magnetic poles have switched from north to south, in the long, loonnng, long history of earth. but no. the north pole is not the south pole. we don't have 2 south poles but one is in the north. that's very incorrect.

[@ValekHalfHeart]

@@Jaynepvg The "north" pole of a magnet is defined as where the magnetic flux lines emerge from the magnet, and its "south" pole is defined as where those lines re-enter the magnet. The magnetic flux lines of the Earth's planetary magnetic field are emitted near Antarctica, making that magnetic pole the "north" one from a physics standpoint, even though we call it the magnetic south pole on account of it being located in the southern hemisphere. Analogously, the north magnetic pole is technically the "south" end of Earth's magnetic field, despite being located in the arctic ocean, because it's where the flux lines re-enter the Earth. The reason we use this terminology is that the north pole of the magnet in a compass points north. But because opposite polarities attract, the north pole of the compass magnet points at the "south" pole of the Earth, which is in the north. TL;DR "north" and "south" have different definitions in physics and geography, so the polarity of the Earth's magnetic poles is opposite that of the geographic poles that they're named after.

[@AdityaMehendale]

@@ValekHalfHeart Indeed. The "pole star" was used faaaar before magnetic compasses were discovered/invented to show "North", which points in the same direction as the earth's revolution axis, to your left-hand side when you greet the easterly morning sunrise, and also the imaginary line joining earth to Polaris (pole-star). The concept of "North" thus exists long before magnets were discovered, and compasses were invented. It was ~serendipity that, when it was finally discovered in the last millenia, that one side of a lodestone always pointed "north". That side that pointed north was termed the 'north' pole of the magnet ( because it pointed towards the north axis of the earth's rotation). Only later (i.e. somewhen in the past few millenia) did folks realize that the cause of this was that the earth itself behaves as a large magnet, whose "south" pole (as defined/verifiable by electric currents, right-hand-rule, magnetometers, Hall-effect, Lorentz, ... take your pick) happens to point in the same direction as the earth's revolution axis. All compasses' north poles get attracted to this giant-ass south pole (or any other stronger magnetic south-pole in their neighborhood - the earth's south pole, giant as it is, is pretty weak) This has nothing to do (yet) with the earth's magnetization flipping every few hundred millenia - that is a different story.

[@bloochoo2870]

The bacteria don’t contain anything magnetic, the magnosomes contain iron which would be pulled by the magnetic field…so it doesn’t follow that they have a north or south magnetic pole internally to follow

[@Dragrath1]

@@AdityaMehendale Some interesting additional context is it appears to be the case that humans are actually part of a minority of animals that have lost the ancestral sense of magnetoreception likely due to our ancestors specialization into celestial navigation making it unessential and thus likely to be lost by genetic drift etc. the flipping of poles There is evidence in our brains that a remnant vestigial magnetoreception still exists in close to half the population through neuronal activity in brain scans which tested for it under other sensory deprivation conditions but this doesn't appear to be consciously perceivable anymore. In this context our discovery of natural magnets is a bit more of a rediscovery of a sense we lost (from those possessed by ancestral tetrapods).

[@donovannagy4303]

Loved it before I watched. Thanks for posting this.

[@colorado841]

If you put some bacteria into a dish with a food source, they will grow forming a circle. Then the bacteria in the center will die out and the ring will expand. Bacteria that travels in only one direction (whichever direction) will have an advantage in that it will always be on the outside of that ring. There may also be and advantage to going upwards or downwards which might explain the different types of bacteria in the north or south.

[@markrix]

This is one of the best M.C. eps IMO.

[@ALovelyLad]

I heard that birds are able to interpret the earth’s magnetic fields and poles, hence being able to migrate. This is nuts

[@bearsoundzMusic]

You should add a label with the _microscopic-technique_ that is used, to each video-clip. I believe i saw phase-contrast and dark-field techniques, but just as the scale & magnification are important information, so is the type of microscopic technique, so please add that!

[@JamsGerms]

All the footage is with the DIC technique. -James

[@DracarmenWinterspring]

Very cool-looking footage from rotating the magnet! Q: Are there saltwater bacteria like this? If there were bacteria like this in the open ocean and the magnet-following behavior overrode everything else (as it seems to be doing in the footage), I would expect them all to just swim towards a pole until it got too cold for them to survive, which doesn't seem like a behavior that would last too many generations...

[@JamsGerms]

This is from a sample from the Atlantic ocean. -James

[@DracarmenWinterspring]

@@JamsGerms oh cool! So do you know what makes them stop / change direction if they're heading towards a pole in the ocean? And thanks for all your great work for this channel (and for science)!

[@greatsol2444]

You can’t hide from me, Hank. I recognize that Sci Show face, even when it’s hidden!

[@yulaserio]

This was a really beautiful video. Thank you so much

[@Jabrils]

this is simply phenomenal. whoa.

[@asimovstarling8806]

I find it interesting that the magnetosomes are arranged in chains. chains made of organic mineral crystals. the reason it is interesting to me is that it reminds me of something. A backbone.

[@icollectstories5702]

Well, for a Terminator, of course!

[@nyarparablepsis872]

NORTH. A reckoning will not be postponed indefinitely. (Couldn't resist...)

[@GIRGHGH]

These are wonderfully enigmagnetic.

[@georgesmith5201]

This is the source of Magneto's power

[@Yezpahr]

1:39 The answer is always James. Ask them who their god is, they will say James. Ask them who they want to infect, they will say James. It's like a Dexter's Laboratory episode where Omelet Du Fromage is always the answer.

[@geovanegoncalves2946]

Amei, a primeira vez pude ver traduzido. Parabéns pelo vídeo.

[@umcarafilipino]

Fiquei surpreso com a dublagem. KKKK

[@shez666]

How do we know that the bacteria is swimming towards the pole and not just being magnetically attracted i.e. pulled towards the magnetic pole?

[@RedSquirrelHunter]

I think they are just being pulled

[@qcsupport2594]

I wanted more clarity on that as well.

[@ooooneeee]

I think the magnetosomes are too small to be able to magnetically pull the whole bacterium. Like the bacteria can detect them moving tiny amounts, but those tiny amounts can't budge the much bigger bacterium cell much at all.

[@1480-b5g]

I'd like to see an experiment done where you either cool the magnet or warm the magnet. I wonder if there's a limit to how close they get. like. if you were in the southern hemisphere, would these bacteria be attracted to south pole instead? Where are they going? Also, can we turn them into an actual functioning compass? (lol)

[@markojovanovic165]

this channel is perfection.

[@NewMessage]

As a Canadian, this title really attracted my attention.

[@mikevanderman2727]

Thanks Magellan

[@Ipergenio]

Who knows what happens to these bacteria when the Earth reverses polarity

[@TroyRubert]

Can we just get a ten hour video of this?

[@icollectstories5702]

There is a way to loop KZbin videos. I only did it once by pressing the timeline at the bottom too many times. I know there is a documented feature to start a video at a particular time code, and there must be a way to specify an end time. Good luck.

[@exumbra1399]

Scientists: "Why do they do this thing?" God: "Because it's cool."

[@oneshotme]

Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up

[@nonoffensiveperson9877]

I want to confuse bateria now, dragging magnets in pounds!

[@kamoboko86]

So you could hunt these bacteria by holding a magnet in the water. Interesting 🧐

[@misanthropichumanist4782]

These bacteria have membrane-bound organelles? 😳

[@ptarmigan1356]

That caught my attention too, I wonder if there are other membrane-bound organelles found in some bacteria, and how they arose

[@brys555]

Put them inside a solenoid and apply alternating current to see how they react.

[@JamsGerms]

I kind of did that! You can see the isolated wire running across the view at 06:15. I expected to see a pattern responding to the magnetic field created by the current, but it was inconclusive so I left it out while writing the outline for the episode. :D -James

[@brys555]

@@JamsGerms With wire running in a straight line like that, they should "orbit" it as that is how the magnetic filed is formed around such thing. Was there enough space between the wire and the glass, above and below, for them to swim through?

[@alan2here]

What's the northern most place they're found?

[@MrEiht]

In case you did not catch their sign language: "I am not magnetic, I am just heavy-boned" "Stupid, that is the OTHER excuse, we ARE magnetic-ized"

[@Dedjkeorrn42]

They have no bones

[@MrEiht]

@@Dedjkeorrn42 exactly. But they are bad to the bone.

[@k0ziolRD]

Ok, question - what happens with these bacteria during change of Earths magnetic poles? Would not it make southern bacteria go north and north south?

[@finminder2928]

Could you talk about the shipment process? How do they survive so long in shipping containers and uncontrolled environments.

[@joeeeyyyyyy]

anyone know if this trait has been used in the medical setting? Seems like a easy way to introduce a bacteria that needs to be removed afterwards.

[@WAMTAT]

Never knew these existed. Life is so much more stranger than I had ever imagined.

[@OMNI-Infinity]

Now I want a colony of magnetotactic bacteria as a pet

[@madtscientist8853]

I love how you explain stuff

[@rmurphy440m]

If the poles flip (which may have happened in the past) these guys are screwed..

[@littlebacchus216]

So what happens when the poles flip?

[@aaronwilson9763]

EARTH MAGNETIC POLES SHIFTS: "When" the Earth's magnetic poles flip positions... should we expect a great migration event? If so, are there any "chain of events" that we should be concerned about or excited about? Thanks for the wonderful work you and the "team" continue to produce with this channel!

[@st1220music]

1:42

[@bri4940]

Soo cool!

[@stax6092]

Cool. Does this mean if you put one of these Bacteria exactly on the equator it wouldn't move?

[@gvasilyev84]

It would be very confused and a bit pissed off i believe 😄

[@AdityaMehendale]

"Follow the -money- flux-lines" - at the equator, *these* bacteria would hypothetically travel horizontally northwards (the "inclination" there is close to zero --> See Wikipedia :: Magnetic Inclination). As they move further north, as the flux-lines start pointing north-and-down. Only very close to the north-pole ( somewhere north of Canada) will the lines point directly downwards. No matter, I guess "somewhat downwards" is good enough for these buggers to arrive at their food. The better question would be: How do naturally occurring bacteria near the equator find their way "down"? (Probable answer: Gravity)

[@Tatusiek_1]

geomagnetic poles and geographic poles are not in the same place, so they’d still move to whatever pole is closer to them on that part of the equator

[@asafrodenstein9397]

these bacteria are a miracle

[@TRULYTWIST3D]

i mean im sure this was thought before but it seems like the advantage is pretty strait forward. they move faster, more direct, and with less energy used. i really dont know anything but i feel like they probably just bump into their food

[@soft-llama1530]

3:22 not now KZbin compression, not now.

[@alexandrevaliquette3883]

@JamsGerms I would love to see the way theses bacteria are find in nature. And techniques used to make theses video (sample preparation, microbe isolation, video setting, etc). We need more tutorial for amateur microscopy. Not just looking at beautiful image; we want to make science! And maybe contribute to I Naturalist and other stuff like that too. Two months ago, I got a SWIFT380 and I love it (new/open box for 150$ shipping incl.). Best purchase ever! I was thinking maybe astronomy... But it's way to expensive and too much restrictive (night only, no clouds, no light pollution, limited number of object within your budget, etc).

[@viper3074]

Question: Would it technically be possible to stack a microscope on a microscope to zoom even further?

[@wayoutdan8334]

To a point. Eventually you run into physics limits such as the wavelength of light.

[@blahblahboookatooyahfluff]

Someone tell me if magnetotactic bacteria can live in methane

[@tonyha3827]

Move they may, but their movement in liquid is not based on locomotion, not mechanical anyways. If there are actual collections of iron within the cell, that may explain that.

[@Rkylem]

I wonder if we can somehow use this bacteria behavior to control a more useful bacteria that could be used to fight human diseases.

[@RedSquirrelHunter]

All with precise magnets out side of the body, that's a cool idea!

[@joncodyhaines]

So what happens when they reach the pole‽

[@edweinb]

What are the circles on the image? Air bubbles?

[@lesussie2237]

Are there any in the equator, and if yes, where would they point?

[@macsmich8273]

Cool vid thx!

[@raytracer2651]

Well that was fascinating.

[@MaxWindshear]

When the magnetic poles of earth flip, these guys will be in for one heck of a migration!

[@AddisonLarson]

Well when the south side was close they should have swam twords it not away like you said?

[@dembro27]

Magnetotastic bacteria!

[@martmart.]

does birds have these kind of navigator in their heads? i have read a bit that they can sense earth's magnetic field and use it to navigate. but i wonder if other beings have these systems or kind of bacteria in their head or gut

[@92Pyromaniac]

Imagine discovering something as awe-inspiring as magnetic bacteria and NOT publishing that! Very different times..

[@DKN117]

So what would happen if you took some magnetotactic bacteria to a location on the equator? Would they get confused and freak out?

[@alexandrevaliquette3883]

@journeytomicro What resources should we find for amateur microscopy?

[@cartoonfreak9]

Bacteria, stay true, north, strong and fierce!

[@jirokoshibailey2052]

Always wondered if all of you (well, James mainly for his 'scope) if you'd be able to get bacteria etc from rocks or from further underground than typically normal (say 10 meters like metro's)

[@Solracotos]

So are they pulled or do they actively used flagella/cillia to swim in that direction?

[@think2086]

What direction do rivers in the Northern Hemisphere mostly run? and in the Southern? It's no bueno to be washed out into the ocean if you're not salt-water tolerant. In which case, it would be useful to know how to swim upstream. I wonder how bacteria in the Nile behave. Hmmm.

[@invictusfarmer7188]

here you are, just swimming around tour home when some monster comes along and magnetically levitated your whole community all around. life is weird.....because i know id be pretty freakin upset lol

[@pingnick]

Add more information in about section on this channel please!

[@pingnick]

Oh maybe you have enough ha who knows maybe my wifi was flaking out

[@Rolletti21]

Too cool!!! Thanks for sharing. 🥰✌️

[@АндрейОнищенко-з8х]

I don't understand why if they are always moving to the pole they haven't all migrated to that pole already. I mean Portugal shore is quite far from north pole. Then if those bacteria are always attracted there what makes them stay so far from there with probably millions of years of existing? Water tides? Or they not always keep moving in same direction? Some seasonal change dependencies? Very interesting.

[@dancoroian1]

If they naturally swim north, they are swimming towards a magnetic *south* pole... so why did they invert their behavior for James's magnets? Unless it was incorrectly stated...?

[@kuantumhafiza8721]

organisms use maggnetic field.if they did not make their own record before, how they get that amount of magnetic effect that they need? So; there must be some extra support i guess.

[@cheesejuice_]

1:41 technically you can see magnetic fields.

[@aricre8886]

suddenly hearing the video in portuguese was... weird, i was so confused for a while

[@kassywilson7292]

Wait. Magnets have a north and south end? How did I not know that, and do you tell which is which?

[@Dismythed]

What happened to the quiet ASMR voice that distinguished Microcosmos from the fray?

[@tayloranderson456]

Wait a second, if they swim towards the magnet, and they contain iron, wouldn't they be just swimming in the direction of least resistance?

[@PuppySizedElephant73]

Anyone willing to explain why the bacteria would go up when it’s not in its hemisphere or origin? My intuition tells me it would still travel down just towards its originally attracted pole