yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Diving for Cyanobacteria in Lake Huron | National Geographic


2m read
·Nov 10, 2024

Water carries so much information in just one drop. [Music] Today, we're in Lake Huron. We came specifically to explore cyanobacteria, which is also known as blue-green algae, which were the first organisms to start producing oxygen on our planet. There is this unique kind of cyanobacteria known as purple cyanobacteria. We don't know much about their chemistry, what kind of molecules they could be making. Are they toxic? Are they beneficial to us? So we came to get some samples and uncover their genetic makeup as well as their chemical profile to try to get to some of these sensors.

The bottom of Lake Huron is actually old ocean floor, and so this is just as prized as things that we see in Yellowstone hot springs and Arctic lakes, so that we can study how Earth became habitable. My work as an explorer and a scientist relies on water transportation. Sometimes I cannot go to a space if I'm in a big boat, and I need something more personal and smaller. Riding a Sea-Doo allows me to get closer to the wildlife that I'm studying.

[Music] I go back to when I was really young. I actually used to be very scared to go into deep water because I semi-drowned when I was a kid. I grew up in Peru, in between the city, the jungle, and the Andes. To go visit family in remote areas in the jungle, we had to be in water; that was the only method of transportation. So it was an inherent need to want to overcome that. It went from being a fearful experience to being a very nurturing one.

[Music] Once we collect samples, we immediately want to take a look under the microscope so we can understand how they live in their natural environments, how they behave. Then we can take those samples into the lab and do more complex experiments to gather more information from them. Oh, look at that one! The samples we collected today are just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Based on previous experience, we predict the novel molecules found in purple cyanobacteria might lead us to breakthroughs in medicine and sustainability. Taking the dive into the unknown is the only way we can discover more about where we came from as a species and how we can protect our planet.

[Music] Remember that everything is connected. What you do impacts life on the other side of the world, sometimes even though you may not see it. That's what drives me—just unlocking all of that knowledge. I really think that has been the missing key in better conserving Earth. Water connects everything.

[Music]

More Articles

View All
Homeroom with Sal & Martha S. Jones - 19th Amendment and Women's Voting Rights
Hi everyone, welcome to today’s homeroom. Uh, I’m very excited about the conversation we are about to have. I will start with my standard reminder, reminding everyone that Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization. We can only exist through philanthro…
Experience Medieval Art and Architecture in Picturesque Brugge | National Geographic
[Music] First settled by Vikings, this Flemish city grew into a nexus of medieval trade routes. It has withstood economic downturns and world wars and remains one of the best-preserved examples of a medieval European settlement. Bruges, also known as Brug…
We deleted social media for 3 days- Mental Glow Up Diaries Episode 3
Social media is the best example of a double-edged sword. If you can use it effectively for your favor, it can be life-changing. You can learn a bunch of new things, you can make friends, you can even make money out of it. But social media facilitates an …
How Fish Eat Part 2 (SLOW MOTION UNDERWATER!) - Smarter Every Day 119
Hey, it’s me Destin, welcome back to Smarter Every Day. So in the last episode of Smarter Every Day, we revealed that fish eat by sucking in the water by opening up their mouth, and then once they do that, they allow the water to exit back behind the ope…
Buddha - Conquer Fear, Become Free
In The Dhammapada, the Buddha says that a wise person is beyond fear and, as a result, is truly free. And there’s a Zen story that shares a similar message. During a Japanese civil war, an army was taking control of different villages. And in one village,…
The Fascinating Lives of Bleeding Heart Monkeys (Part 3) | Nat Geo Live
Geladas aren’t afraid of all predators. You’re looking at the Ethiopian wolf. This occurs on the Guassa, and it’s the rarest canid in the world. There’s only about 400 remaining in Ethiopia, and 40 of them are at Guassa. They’re social, but during the day…