A War We Need
Leave a reviewReporter Ari Daniel visits with Willie Wilson, who studies phytoplankton–aka microscopic plant-like creatures–at Bigelow Laboratory in Maine. There’s a war in Willie’s test tubes. A certain sort of phytoplankton known as coccolithophores are engaged in a surprisingly complicated arms race with deadly viruses. A virus is problematic enough when you’re a human. Now imagine being a single-cell plant and mixing it up with the hugest virus you’ve ever seen. The coccos (as we’ve taken to calling them) are outgunned, but they won’t go down with out a serious fight.
© WNYC Studios | 00:11:10
|Season: 1 |Episode: 12 |
Full episode description
Episode One: Colors
This is an Episodic show. You can listen to it in any order, but episode one is always a great place to start.Full Episode description
Reporter Ari Daniel visits with Willie Wilson, who studies phytoplankton–aka microscopic plant-like creatures–at Bigelow Laboratory in Maine. There’s a war in Willie’s test tubes. A certain sort of phytoplankton known as coccolithophores are engaged in a surprisingly complicated arms race with deadly viruses. A virus is problematic enough when you’re a human. Now imagine being a single-cell plant and mixing it up with the hugest virus you’ve ever seen. The coccos (as we’ve taken to calling them) are outgunned, but they won’t go down with out a serious fight.
Ari and Willie explain how our itsy-bitsy heroes take arms against (literally) a sea of troubles–and how this battle, and others like it, make life on Earth possible.
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© WNYC Studios | Status: Active, 27 episodes | Kind: Episodic | Episode URL
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