Man Leaves a Jar Full of Pond Water Near Window — Days Later, He Observes It Under the Microscope
Within every piece of the universe resides a whole different universe. It is science. Inside every little droplet of water lurks a microcosm bursting with life, which is as mysterious as the life inside the most gigantic of oceans. Crawling creatures, sneering critters, and mini beasts that carry the potential of wiping a whole adult human from the planet. In a 2020 video, @AtomicShrimp shared an episode called The Pond on my Windowsill, revealing the fascinating world that secretly lurks within the water of a pond; a menagerie of creepy creatures and nutrients you never read about in your biology textbooks.
In this episode, he scooped out some pond water in a jar and set it beside his windowsill to see what happened. As days passed, the mini water world in the jar started to show signs of life. A closer look with a microscope revealed that it was teeming with teensy-weensy life; dot-sized critters trapped inside glass. The experiment, he shared, was inspired by the YouTube channels Life in Jars and Journey Into The Microcosmos. People said that this was “one of the most relaxing and interesting videos” they’ve seen in a long time.
“About a week ago, I scooped up a jar of murky water from a local pond, sealed it up, and put it on my windowsill as an experiment in making a sealed ecosphere,” the YouTuber told the viewers while dipping a tall glass jar in the pond water. His goal was to investigate whether there was an ecosphere inside this jar. As it turned out, there was. “Right from the start, there were signs of life in this jar. But let’s see what happened over the first week or so,” he said in his usual soothing voice.
The jar with the pond water sat beside his window for a night. When he checked, most of the duckweed had sorted itself in the water and had settled at the bottom, like seafloor sediment. Bubbling up from this rubbly-looking seabed was a murky tunnel of water, inside which a black, ribbon-like flatworm was wiggling alone. The following day, the water cleared up more, and some miniature crustaceans emerged from the pond’s bed. On Day 3, the guy spotted a weird “green speck” clinging to one side of the glass.
To get a closer view of this speck, he rigged up a cheap USB microscope. It revealed the green speck to be a “hydra,” a relative of sea anemones whose tentacles are armed with stinging cells. Just a brushing contact with a hydra can cause an animal to get trapped in these tentacles and eventually be squeezed of all life. The cells eject poisonous neurotoxins and hook the animal, preventing it from escaping its grip. Laced with captive green algae, the creature slowly lures its prey and siphons its lifeblood to feed itself.
In the footage, a tawny-colored flatform wiggled its way towards the hydra, leaned over as if whispering, “Hail, hydra!” Another one got ganged up by a clump of hydra but succeeded in escaping with a leaf’s support. A week later, the creator posted the updated status of the pond water world, photobombing the surreal microcosm. The hydra had grown abundant, and every day, new creatures were popping into the picture.
“This is so friggin’ wholesome,” exclaimed @enricodemeo. @jonathanfinan722 commented, @niabrrx1134 reflected, “It is so amazing how a small jar of pond can be very full of life!” Many viewers, including @bignate215, said that “This is the most interesting thing” they’ve ever seen during the lockdown.
You can follow @AtomicShrimp on YouTube for more interesting ideas and creative content related to science and nature.
More on Green Matters
People Are Grossed Out After Seeing a ‘Whole Ecosystem’ Growing Inside an Unwashed Water Bottle