Bio-Art: Moyashimon.

Ever wonder what it would be like to see the whole microscopic world with the naked eye? If you said "TERRIFYING," you're totally right. Several animated programs have featured some sort of "germ vision," and once you have it, you realize everything has germs.  No exceptions!

Enter Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture. The protagonist of the series, Tadayasu Sawaki, has been blessed/cursed with the ability to see microbes since birth. He and one of his friends from the countryside get into an agricultural university in Tokyo, only to find that one of the professors there knows about Sawaki's ability. After running a few tests, his talent proves legit. Bacteria- and fungus-related hijinks ensue.



Of course, this is Japan. It would be no fun to see microbes that, if expanded, would look like hey just came off an alien spaceship. They instead proceeded to make the microbes as adorable as humanly possible. Seriously, just look at this OP. This has got to be the most KAWAIIDESU show of microbes ever!
 
Then there are the little "Microbe Theatre" bits at the end. These introduce you to one of the main microbes in the episode - literally, they say their names and everything. For example, the spot on yeast microbes shows all the great things yeast does- from miso soup paste to alcohol. They don't mention bread, but that's there, too.

Is Moyashimon good as a series? I'm not 100% sure after only seeing two episodes. What I will say is that, if you're curious about the wonderful world of microbiology and want to see what athlete's foot would look like if it went Hello Kitty, please give it a watch.  These guys do a pretty good job, and now you, too, can have adorable yeast on your cell phone.

Bio-Art: Giant Microbes.

 

Awww, how cute! It's pink! It has a cute piggy snout! It looks like Munna from Pokemon! It's...swine flu.

Yes, you, too, can get swine flu in the cutest form possible: A pink plushie with red eyes and an adorable little piggy snout. This cuteness was made possible by GIANTMicrobes.com, a group that makes numerous bacteria, viruses, and creepy crawlies at millions of times their natural sizes...then goes the extra mile and makes them even cuter by playing with the names and/or functions of the microbes.

GIANTmicrobes was founded in 2002 by Drew Oliver. He got the idea after reading some memoirs about Richard Feynman's  fascination with the bustling microbial world.  Oliver was sure that kids would be just as fascinated by this strange world that was just a microscope viewing away, but little kids and lab tech do not make a good mix, especially when ebola is one of the specimens in question.

Name a mildly popular disease and there will be a plushie of it. GIANTmicrobes has rabies, ebola, mad cow, the Black Death, West Nile, flesh-eating bacteria, and even malaria (which I have GOT to get!). Aside from diseases, they have other unicellular things like blood cells, egg and sperm cells, copepods, and bookworms. They are all equally adorable, so no matter what your favorite disease happens to be, rest assured that it has been made too cute to handle.

Go ahead. Buy one.  They're contagious.

Next Theme Week: Microbe Week!

You voted, I listened: This theme week will be dedicated to the world invisible to the naked eye. There are some things that one can only see beneath a microscope, and they have been around a lot longer than anything with organs. They spawn quickly. They have evolved extensive weaponry that allows them to thrive in any condition...and we mean any. There's life where one would not normally think to find life, like in subzero conditions and thermal heat vents.



Every day will have a different micro-creature under the spotlight. Even "They Actually Eat That" will have a microbe that you never thought you actually ate. Y'know, as if yeast and cheese fungi were not enough. 

Prepare for a lot of small creatures that you never thought you'd see. And a lot of squeeing from the crazy authoress.

Creature Feature: Water Bears.

A "water bear?" Come now, Kuro. Surely you would not do something as simple as show us a bear in the water, right? Or that shark-bear-octopus hybrid that keeps showing up online?

Far less terrifying is the actual creature called a water bear (phylum Tardigrada). It is so named not because it is cute and fuzzy, but because it moves slowly like a bear (thus "tardigrade"). (It also comes in plushie form.)


Those claws make it look almost like Stitch's cousin. Close enough.

The only scary thing about water bears is that they are everywhere. I mean everywhere. From the Himalayas to the hottest deserts, you can and will find water bears. They can live up to a decade without water, and can even thrive after being exposed to the vacuum of outer space. That last one just put the cockroach to shame.


Nobody can hear you scream...except this thing.

In case you know absolutely nothing about outer space, there is nothing to support life. No water. No breathable air. Nothing. These water bears were sent into space for ten days, came back freeze-dried, and, after being rehydrated, started behaving normally. They even had perfectly healthy offspring. 

This seeming invincibility comes from the water bear's ability to suspend its metabolism. All systems are put on hold when the water bear encounters extreme climate changes, be they pressure or temperature. The whole creature just stops.

Water bears have been exposed to intense conditions - the vacuum of space, intense radiation, you name it - and lived.  As long as a water bear has a minimal amount of water, it can survive. Creepy, isn't it? 

Luckily, they're microscopic and feed mostly on algae. Really, if these things were any bigger, we would be trying to find ways to eradicate them.