Follow for more talkers

Student captures videos of mesmerizing microscopic wonders

The hypnotic footage shows Tomas' friend’s blood, ramshorn snails, water extracts from a pond and a bucket and even some of Tomas’s own tooth plaque.

Avatar photo

Published

on

By Jessica Hehir-Smith via SWNS

A history student captures mesmerizing videos of snails, tooth plaque and even BLOOD under a microscope.

Tomas Rico, a history student at UC Davis in California became interested in microscopy after a lecture on soil science.

The 22-year-old first started filming interesting samples under a microscope on a desk in his home studio.

He now shares the videos of his microscopic explorations on the social media apps TikTok and Instagram, where he regularly posts to a combined following of almost 250,000 followers.

The hypnotic footage shows Tomas' friend’s blood, ramshorn snails, water extracts from a pond and a bucket and even some of Tomas’s own tooth plaque.

Footage also shows Tomas using two sheets of polarized film to observe the muscles inside mosquito larvae and the reaction between 91 percent isopropyl alcohol and pond water, which caused dissolved gasses to swirl around in mesmerizing patterns

Tomas carries little vials around to take samples from different environments near his home, as well as receiving samples and requests from his friends and followers.

Tomas carefully takes bits of his samples and places them on glass slides to observe under the microscope.

He clamps his iPhone to the microscope to record the incredible footage.

By using everyday language and interesting video footage, Tomas is making the mind-bending ecology of the microscopic world accessible to people from a range of backgrounds.

He said: “Before I started posting, I assumed that only a few biology enthusiasts or students might enjoy learning about the microcosmos.

“Most people are not reading microbiology textbooks or taking classes on the physics of light.

“Information about microscopy is often held behind expensive classes, equipment, and confusing technical language.

“I am just floored at how strongly people react to learning about the microcosmos.

"Some people realize that cells can, and do, make decisions like an animal!”

Tomas believes that microscopy can offer a completely new perspective on the world.

He aims to share the microscopic structures and ecosystems that cause everyday phenomena we all recognize.

He said: “I encourage people to consider that something we think is disgusting, like a puddle of muck, can be home to beautiful and complex life.

“Unless you have actually seen the thousands of rotifers filtering through a teaspoon of pond water or the gelatinous movement of amoeba, it’s difficult to imagine how crazy life on earth can really be.

“This perspective we can only access through microscopy…and a little imagination.”

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers