Don't swallow the (pond) water!!

Well I don't know about anyone else but I was excited to submit my abstract proposal last Friday, for the upcoming student conference at Estrella Mountain College.  Maybe its because I didn't have enough data for the ASU conference but I'm ready now!!! 

I try to take pictures of my microbes twice a week.  I want to leave a bit of time in between photos in order for new communities to grow and mature and I can't see the growth if I see it everyday.   Kinda like how your grandma always think you look bigger when you visit....So now, every time I see my jar I see a lot more algae/green slim covering the inside of my jar.  Here is a little visual comparison for you of about a month.

Feb. 14, 2013

March 25, 2013

                                   
                       
This week I had so much going on that I was able to take just under 100 photos and I still have a photo day tomorrow.  With some help from Matt (sending me morphology links), I am able to classify a lot of my microbes down to the species, which is totally awesome seeing as my specimens are microscopic.

 As every week passes, the detail, size and variety of what I see expands.  Then I realized something the other day, in talking to Matt my realization it was confirmed.  Soon there will be a plateau or a peak, depending on how you look at it with my results.  My experiment is in a big 'ol pickle jar and the only thing that gets added to it is DI water, so if I have nothing to contaminate it, I can never have more complex species then what I'm seeing now.   In nature, flies lay eggs and larva is introduced, pollution and smog can kill, harm and alter what you find in a pond or lake.  A large dust storm can bring contaminants from miles away and deposit them in the pond.  All of these factors can change the ecosystem that is in any pond. 

Its not like I really need to add a variable to my project just yet, I'm still keeping very busy with what I have going on in my jar.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from early on this week.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

P.S. I'm thinking of blowing up some of the photos to print and hang them up at home.  Would you consider that to be abstract or abnormal???

Microbe party

Anabaena (green spiral) and Navicula (oval shape), Protococcus (green circles)

Pediastrum

Merismopedia, Anabaena, Protococcus, Navicula

Closterium

Scenedesmus, Synedra, Rotifer (big guy in the upper right)

 Really makes me think back to all the pond water I swallowed as  a kid!!!

Spring time blue-green algae

Well, I hope that everyone had a great Spring break.  Mine was wonderful; we went to New Mexico for a full week of farm fresh life.  There is nothing like hearing the rooster’s cock-a-doo-doodle in the early morn and eating eggs the ways nature intended...hormone free.  For once, I didn't feel bad if I didn't finish my dinner...it went into a bowl for the chickens for the next day.  Mix all that up with hay, fresh ground corn, crushed oyster shell (for harder egg shells), and some other grains, these free range chickens are both happy and delicious!!

                                            
I was lucky enough to have Matt help me out last week as we were gone.  He was able to pull a few samples for me so that I didn't miss any new microbes or trends over the week, so thank you very much.  There is so much going on with my project, every week there seems to be a new microbe to research and look at new climbing and falling numbers in populations under the microscope. I have categorized what I see into three different classifications, R for rare (population 0 - 5 per slide), C for common (population 6-15 per slide) and A for abundant (15 + per slide).  This is the most effective way that I have come up with so far to keep track of population growing and declining numbers as everything that I am looking at is so small.

                                             
  I am currently on day 49 and my pickle jar is beginning to show the signs of algae over-growth.
This is evident when I mount my wet slides as most of my population comes from the green and blue-green algae groups.  Below are a few of my favorite pictures from this week’s slides...enjoy!!

The large dark microbe is Genera Calonei

 

Both blue-green algae, work-like is Oscillatoria and the ordered dots are Merismopedia

  

This creepy guy is a Rotifer and I'm pretty sure it is a Dicranophorus (at 40x)

  

Mother Nature is...AWSOME

Sometimes there is so much to do and so much to say that it is hard to start to get it all out.  I've had a really exciting week in my experiment but I didn't think that way at the beginning.  I thought that I was doing something wrong, as I was seeing a major decline in variety and number of microbes species.  I wasn't seeing anything!
                                                  





                                                    NOTHING

 At first I thought that I was just spoiled,  I had been using the higher powered microscopes that the professors use for the camera feature, and on Tuesday and Wednesday because of class schedules, I wasn't able to so I used the regular microscope and I couldn't find anything!  I tried a second sample to see if I had made a mistake but again...I saw only a few diatoms and some algae.  What happened to my microbe micro-city?  Well  after speaking with Matt, it all became clear...this was what I was supposed to be seeing.  The circle of life, the rise and fall of species, survival of the fittest, it was the end of the cycle for my diatoms, euglina, navicula and rotifers.  As they die off they release nitrogen and blue green algae thrive on nitrogen.
                        
 So now I am beginning to see a decline in those microbe but seeing an increase of green and blue-green algae like Spriogyra, Nostoc and Anabaena.  It is amazing to see how this is all evolving, Science and Mother Nature...AWESOME
                                           
(Antievolution legislation: Missouri and Kentucky attack science ...www.skepticalraptor.com)

What's in your drink??

What are you drinking??

“The naked truth” is what I’m drinking!  Josh and I have gone back and forth on this one.  We have been weighing the benefits for the Green machine.   I decided to take a look at the drink without the “naked eye’.  I put it under the microscope to see if I had any coloration between what I have been studying with microbes and algae in my hay infusion project and this drink which I love so much.  And believe it or not…they are same.    

       

CHLORELLA                                                              SPIRULINA

 

We are only beginning to grasp the incredible nutritional value of blue-green algae, spirulina and chlorella but these super-foods have a reputation that reaches far back into history. A form of blue-green algae was consumed regularly hundreds of years ago by Aztecs, while spirulina was a favorite among native peoples in the Sahara desert region of Africa. Today blue-green algae and spirulina are some of the top super-foods, providing extraordinary nutrition in a time when most food sources are of poor nutritional quality.
Blue-green algae and spirulina, which is a specific form of blue-green algae, are found in nature growing in the still, alkaline waters of lakes and ponds. They are natural foods that have existed since life began. Their nutritional content is broad and highly concentrated.

We are now seeing a jump in the population of people that are getting healthy and eating foods that are super packed with vitamins, andtioxidents and by adding fruit, these green drinks are getting easier to swallow!

 Blue-green algae and spirulina are rich in vitamins A, C, E and the B-complex vitamins, including vitamins B12 and B6. Since these vitamins are packaged in their natural form, they are in a highly usable state that makes them far superior to modern vitamin supplements.

Both of these types of algae have tremendous benefits to us as humans and as a major contributing factor to the microbe food chain. 

If you haven't tried this flavor yet, I recommend that you do!