Good morning John. 

In a single drop of water, thousands of organisms can live and thrive. An ecosystem all on its own, in a space the size of your fingertip; varied, peculiar, intricate, and magnificent.

There's so much that we know about these minuscule beasts, but also many mysteries left.  Often, we talk about exploration as going deep, or high, or far, but there is a whole other world within an arm's reach, that nonetheless exists outside of our notice. The world of the micro cosmos is as close as we've gotten to something truly alien. Microscopic animals living alongside single-celled giants.

Diatoms with cell walls made of glass. Massive amoebas oozing, ancient mutualistic relationships, astounding, mysterious abilities. I can't quite explain why I am so astounded by this life.

Maybe it's because it was for almost all of human history completely invisible and unknown. Maybe because it's discovery transformed not just how we saw life, but how we saw ourselves. And led directly to the improvement of billions of lives.

Maybe it's because it gives us a glimpse at cellular machinery; the chemical basis for the majesty of life. Maybe it's just because it's... really pretty, and these organisms are our neighbours. But whatever it is, I am fascinated by it, and I watch a lot of YouTube videos showcasing this wonderful world.

And then I got so obsessed that I reached out to one of my favourites; a guy named James who lives in Poland. And I asked him if he wanted to work together with me on a YouTube channel. You can find his videos primarily on Instagram, there's a link in the description, but we've been working on a channel for the last few months, and John, it just launched.

I love it. It's called Journey to the Microcosmos. Our first episode is out, and we'll have a new one every week which features original music from Andrew Long, and great design and editing from our people here at Complexly.

Some of the organisms we feature might be familiar; like we're planning on following a family of tardigrades as they hatch and grow and develop. Some, will almost certainly be unfamiliar, but we hope you'll come to love, and appreciate them as much as we do, like Stentor Coeruleus, one of the largest single celled organisms on Earth, big enough to be seen with the naked eye. It's big, and beautiful, and voracious; the blue whale of pond scum.

There's so much to see, so much to know, and Journey to the Microcosmos will take us there. Not rapid-fire educational like a lot of the stuff I've done before, but chill, and laid-back, cos that's how I'm feeling sometimes these days. Though this is not to say there won't be drama.

You can watch it here, and subscribe here. It's a very different thing than I've done in the past so I hope you like it. John, I'll see you on Tuesday.