Planeta Microbio
"Planeta Microbio" gives us the opportunity to discover the importance of microbes in our daily lives and on the planet we share with them. By using special imaging techniques, we will see microbes live, observing how they reproduce, feed, and move. Directed by Rubén Duro and in collaboration with various scientists, "Planeta Microbio" is an opportunity to learn more about microbes with an accessible and engaging narrative, paired with beautiful visuals.
The twelve episodes of "Planeta Microbio" are:
Microbes
They're in our hands, in the air, on our clothes, in water, and even in places where it seems there’s nothing. And there are so many, in fact, they make up 90% of the planet's biodiversity, with their mass outweighing all other living beings.
In Search of Immortality
Are microbes immortal? Why do we die? Bacteria, protozoa, and even animals like hydra appear to have prolonged their lives almost indefinitely. But is that immortality?
Environmental Patrol
Microbes, or most of them, are our environmental protectors, the first natural purifiers. Together, they form something like an "environmental patrol" that eliminates much of the pollutants we create.
The Salt of Life
The waters of salt lagoons and saltworks contain ecosystems home to a vast variety of microorganisms, whose significance for science and new technological applications is immense.
Love and Death
Romantic love is a result of the cultural evolution of sex, a strategy that emerged to ensure the continuation of life on Earth. But is it the only strategy? And is it the best strategy for species preservation?
Noah’s Microbes
Cider, wine, and beer have accompanied our civilizations through the ages. They all depend on the work of microscopic fungi—yeasts. What are these yeasts? How do they turn sugary juice into alcohol?
Miracle Microbes
Throughout history, humans have tried to explain natural phenomena, sometimes using the scientific knowledge of the time, and other times turning to the supernatural.
The First Ecosystems
Life has managed to persist on Earth despite drastic changes over billions of years, thanks to another intrinsic feature of life: evolution—a joint evolution of ecosystems as units.
I Can't Live Without You
The most special type of relationship developed in the evolution of life is symbiosis, a relationship that has become an extraordinary evolutionary mechanism.
Edible Microbes
All microbes are living beings, and as such, they are edible in one form or another. Sausages, bread, yogurt, cheese, supplements... Perhaps it’s not just that microbes are edible, but that we might not survive without them.
Aliens
Is there life outside of Earth? To answer this, we’ve developed the most advanced technologies and even searched for Earth environments similar to extraterrestrial ones, like the Rio Tinto. What we found, however, were "intraterrestrials." Could intramartians be similar to intraterrestrials?
I Am Me and My... Microbes
We are associations of different organisms living and evolving together as a single biological unit. More than an individual "I," we are a collective "we," a symbiotic individual and, at the same time, a functional and evolutionary unit.
