This Scientist Putting Random Stuff Under A Microscope Is TikTok’s New Oddly Satisfying Content

scientist examines random items under a microscope on tiktok

Forget the multiverse, or even the Metaverse: the only verse I want to hear about is the microverse and all its little critters, thanks to this scientist who posts videos of the wonders she observes with a microscope on TikTok. Warning: this content is cute AF.

Picture this: you’re scrolling through TikTok or Reels, swiping through videos you barely register with your glassy eyes when you come across a video of a woman sampling water from a flower pot. Intrigued, your thumb hovers over your screen as you watch to see where this is going — only to have your socks blown off by all the weird little creatures she finds in it.

This was me the other night, and I ended up staying up way too late rabbit-holing into learning a) what TF a “water bear” is and b) why sand from different countries looks so different under a microscope. And thus, an obsession was born.

Microbiology student and TikTok creator Chloé Savard (@tardibabe) is the woman I’m talking about, and her wholesome science content is my newfound obsession.

@tardibabe

Beautiful creatures can be found in the most unexpected places! 🥹 Here are the microbes I found: Clip 1: colonial green algae named Gonium. They can be found around the globe in freshwaters and are usually composed or 4, 8, 16 or 32 cells. They have the ability to swim toward a light source with the help of their two flagella so they can produce sugars by photosynthesis. Clip 2: a unicellular organism named Colpoda that loves to feed on algae and move with the help of thousands of tiny hairs, called cilia, beating together! Clip 3: a multicellular worm called Aeolosoma which is in the same group than earth worms. They feed on degraded plant material like dead leaves but also on protozoa, bacteria and algae. They ingest food like a small vacuum, by creating a suction with their mouths while their ventral cilia push debris inside it! Clip 4: a unicellular organism, most probably a Litonotus lamella, that loves to feed on bacteria and small microbes! Like Colpoda, this creature is a ciliate that moves with the help of thousands of microscopic hairs beating together. Clip 5: a Hypotrich ciliate, mostly feeding on algae and bacteria! Clip 6: the same Colpoda as clip 2 but viewed with phase contrast illumination. You can see it engulfing a small algae! Clip 7: Aeolosoma worm Clip 8: more Gonium algae but viewed under phase contrast illumination! All videos were taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam adapter 🔬 References: Foissner, W., & Berger, H. (1996). A user‐friendly guide to the ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora) commonly used by hydrobiologists as bioindicators in rivers, lakes, and waste waters, with notes on their ecology. Freshwater biology, 35(2), 375-482. Marchese, M. R., Alves, R. G., Oceguera-Figueroa, A., Glasby, C. J., Gil, J., Martin, D., … & Damborenea, C. (2020). Phylum Annelida. In Thorp and Covich’s Freshwater Invertebrates (pp. 431-486). Academic Press. Nakada, T., & Nozaki, H. (2015). Flagellate green algae. In Freshwater Algae of North America (pp. 265-313). Academic Press. #fyp #garden #microscope #animals #science

♬ Brokendate – Com Truise

Savard takes samples from seemingly mundane stuff (water from a local pond, a blueberry, sand) and places it under her microscope. She then films what she sees on her iPhone and documents her findings on TikTok and Instagram, complete with soothing songs that match the content of her videos.

This may sound boring to the non-science girlies but I assure you it is fascinating and gorgeous. The videos she shares are a kaleidoscope of colours and the creatures are cute and little and weird like goblins but in a good way.

Plus, the visuals and music are straight up dreamy: this is peak scroll-before-bed content and I must share my newfound love with the world.

Look at this silly little creature!!! It’s called a tardigrade (AKA a water bear) and Savard finds heaps of them in all different kinds of water she samples!!

@tardibabe

WHO’S THAT POKEMON? 👀 You probably already have noticed how I love to use polarized light on water bears (or anything else really 😂) because it showcases their muscle strands, their mouth and the content of their stomach! Everything glow and the colour changes depending on the animal’s orientation to the light. They just really look like they’re ready to PARTAY 🪩 Tardigrades, also called water bears or moss-piglets, are without a doubt the international super stars of the micro world. They’re mostly famous because they evolved and adapted to survive extreme environmental conditions that are generally a death sentence to other animals. Among these adaptations we find resisting dehydration by forming a quiescent tun (they look like little barrels), resisting sub-zero temperatures down to -196 °C in their hydrated form and temperatures from -273°C to 100°C in their dehydrated form. They’re also able to survive enormous amount of radiations, high pressures, low oxygen concentrations, exposure to the vacuum of space and being shot out of a gun at different speeds (poor bears just trying to live a normal life). It has been shown that water bears are among the most radiation-tolerant animals on this planet! Don’t get me wrong though, water bears aren’t immortal, they can die from lack of oxygen or food and even be victims of fungal parasitic infections, which mostly occurs in moist habitats and when cultured in laboratories.  All of these cool adaptations allowed tardigrades to inhabit every micro environment on Earth; from Arctic to Antarctic, deserts to tundra, mountains and forests, grasslands and valleys, ponds and lakes, they can even be found in the deep sea and most likely in your own backyard! Since they usually measure between 50 microns to 1 millimeter, using a microscope to observe those from your backyard would be necessary.  All videos were taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam ultra adapter 🔬 #fyp #tardigrade #animals #science

♬ Walking On a Dream – Empire of the Sun

You know how for a while everyone was watching soap-cutting videos because they were so relaxing and helped ease anxiety? This is my equivalent. It’s hard to feel like your problems are the centre of the universe when creatures so small exist doing their own little things. It makes me feel like I’m just another bug in the garden that is life and sometimes I need that reminder!

@tardibabe

This is the worm version of a shark 😂 I took this video one and a half years ago and it was the first time seeing a microscopic annelid worm eat! I was mind blown to see how they create suction and pull food inside their mouth by everting the muscular roof of their pharynx 😳 That’s one hell of a special trick! And yes, the black dots are their eyes! Aquatic Oligochaete worms like this long boi are usually pretty thin and small, generally measuring 1 mm but can reach up to a couple centimetres. These worms are related to earth worms and are mainly decomposers, which means that they feed on decaying organic matter but some also feed on algae, small protozoans like ciliates and some even prey on other worms 😱 Oligochaetes living at the bottom of the water column also helps mixing and oxygenating benthic substrates by borrowing! They aren’t dangerous to humans and can be spotted with the naked eye 😄 Oligochaete worms are segmented animals, meaning that their body is made of small repetitive units and all of them possess a pair of primitive kidneys and components of circulatory and nervous system. Primitive kidneys are essential to remove wastes from blood and coelom. The different segments also bear a pair of bristles, called setae, which are use to anchor the worm when moving around. But to move around so easily by crawling on surfaces also means muscles are needed! Circular and longitudinal muscles are here to help Sharky to lengthen and contract all of his segments to be able to stretch forward and eat all of the algae! Video taken with my iPhone mounted on a BA310E Motic microscope with an @ilabcam adapter 🔬 References: Brinkhurst, R. O., & Gelder, S. R. (2001). Annelida: Oligochaeta, including Branchiobdellidae. Ecology and classification of North American freshwater invertebrates, 2, 431-463 Pinder, A. M., & Ohtaka, A. (2004). Annelida: Clitellata, Oligochaeta. Freshwater invertebrates of the Malaysian region. Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, 162-174. #fyp #microscope #science #shark #eating #animals

♬ Red Red Wine – UB40

So if you’re ever in need of some wholesome and satisfying content to watch when the world is feeling way too overwhelmingly big, go small and watch some tardigrades eat lunch or take a poop.


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