Hi.
Something other than fractals today.
I thought I'd share a couple of microscope videos I took.
The first shows paramecium shooting around in a drop of pond slime. Their speed is incredible compared to most other microbes in the water.
This one shows an amoeba on the hunt ... or just out for a leisurely stroll.
This was in the same pond slime as the other video. I find it amazing how they move.
Amoebas travel by pushing out a structure called a pseudopod (false foot) and then squeeze the other end of their bodies to force their internal fluids into the pseudopod. Their internal organs get forced along as well.
These critters can traps other microorganisms by sending out two pseudopods at the same time to surround their prey. The two ends fuse together and trap the prey. Eventually a kind of bubble structure called a vacuole forms around the prey and it is eventually digested. They always remind me of the Sci-Fi movie, The Blob.
Not the best video quality but the lumpiness of the green algae makes it hard to keep everything in focus.
I've been trying to get a better video but this is the only amoeba I've come across so far.
Bye for now.
Richard
