Fine Read­ing: Two Fine Pro­tist Blogs

Note in 2023: best we know, both blogs men­tioned here have been in­ac­tive since 2015 and 2014, re­spec­tively.

by Elio

Merry and I would like you to know about two spe­cial­ized blogs that deal mainly with pro­tists, one called Skep­tic Won­der, the other The Ocel­loid. The first one is a spir­ited blog whose his­tory goes back to 2008, the sec­ond a re­cent ad­di­tion to the Sci­en­tific Amer­i­can Blog Net­work. Both are writ­ten by a friend and avid pro­tis­tol­o­gist who goes by the name of Psi Wave­func­tion, and we're glad to help pub­li­cize them.

We ap­plaud the blogger's ef­fort, in good part be­cause we be­lieve that pro­tists need good press. Every­one has heard of them, per­haps en­coun­ter­ing them as pond-scum para­me­cia in high school, when learn­ing about malaria, or more re­cently in the hoopla about us­ing mi­cro-al­gae to pro­duce fu­els. But they de­serve more at­ten­tion than that for their enor­mous va­ri­ety in shape, size, and ge­nomic com­plex­ity. They have a cen­tral role in this planet's me­tab­o­lism, be­ing re­spon­si­ble for a huge amount of car­bon cy­cling. In ad­di­tion, many, like the di­atoms, are a joy to the eye.

The first is­sue of The Ocel­loid is A Quick Dive into the Pro­tist World, and quite a trip it is. Here you'll en­counter or­gan­isms you may have heard about, or not—intricate ra­di­o­laria, filose amoe­bas that leave tracks on the sand, and gor­geous foraminifera. The name of this blog refers to an eye-like struc­tures of di­nofla­gel­lates, the ocel­loid. This is a true model bi­o­log­i­cal won­der, with a com­plex­ity that ap­proaches that of the ver­te­brate eye, all in one uni­cel­lu­lar or­gan­ism.

Many blogs de­serve your at­ten­tion, but these two stand out in our opin­ion.

 

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