If you tuned into Thursday’s Bing home page, you saw these little green bubbles slowly bouncing off each other in a soothing sort of looping video. What did you think they were? Fancy tree ornaments? Fancier baubles? Bubbles gone wild?
Clicking on the answer boxes on the page reveals that they’re none of the above. They’re a colony of green algae called Volvox. As an article on “Microscopy UK” states, “The colonies even have what we could call a front and rear end. Or, since Volvox resembles a little planet, a 'north and south pole'. In the northern region the eyespots are more developed. This helps the colony to swim towards the light. This differentiation of cells make Volvox quite unique. It is a colony that comes really close to being a multi-celled organism.”
The best place to find them: ponds! They were first discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, dubbed the father of microbiology. Find out more about these ethereal green microorganisms on the Bing home page.
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Athima Chansanchai
Microsoft News Center Staff