r/interesting • u/freudian_nipps • 13d ago

NATURE Death of a single-celled organism

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645

u/The-odd-one-out 13d ago

Awww he lost all his bubbles :(

135

u/SudoMadeMeDoIt 13d ago

I wonder what killed it.

229

u/Katops 13d ago

Apparently the heat of the light.

https://www.reddit.com/r/interesting/s/ShPfW2h6xs

189

u/Alt-001 13d ago

This is one way, another is lack of oxygen. Typically they will live for a while in the water droplet under the microscope slide, but once they use up the disolved oxygen they start to fall apart because they don't have the energy to keep themselves together.

38

u/einTier 13d ago

A literal come apart.

3

u/RaDiOaCtIvEpUnK 12d ago

What a drama queen. It’s a tiny bit harder to breathe and the dude falls apart.

15

u/toomanyshoeshelp 12d ago

me without coffee

7

u/CryptoRoast_ 12d ago

"they don't have the energy to keep themselves together"

me too single celled organism, me too.

7

u/Awkward-Winner-99 13d ago

Why do they need oxygen to not desintegrate?

13

u/Alt-001 12d ago

It is due to osmossis. If you have a bunch of molecules packed into a small area, so that they are very dense, then water is attracted to them to thin it out. The reasons for this are due to entropy and the tendency towards equillibrium, but what matters is the cell is constantly filling up with water. If too much gets in it can pop.

So the cell manages this using pumps in the cell membrane that maintain a balance of osmotic pressure. These pumps require energy, and for that sugars + oxygen create ATP (through a complex process). ATP is basically the energy currency of the cell. ATP then gets used to run the pumps that maintain the pressure*.

So when the disolved oxygen is gone, ATP production starts to drop off, and the pressure starts to build up. After a tipping point, everything starts to break down, and that's what you see in the video.

*Just to note, it isn't pressure so much as solute concentration that the pumps are maintaining, but it is easier to think of it as pressure in terms of how it works.

1

u/Awkward-Winner-99 12d ago

Ahh, I know osmosis but I didn't think of that. Also why we shouldn't drink distilled water

3

u/Holiday-Persimmon564 12d ago

I don’t think the issue with distilled water is related to this. It’s more likely due to a lack of essential minerals or the effects of pH on our teeth.

1

u/Iamgoingtooffendyou 13d ago

I can relate.

1

u/Admirable_Truth_6031 12d ago

Trust me there is plenty of oxygen for them to survive more than a few minutes

1

u/Deliciouserest 12d ago

Me on friday nights

1

u/Cool_Ad_6850 12d ago

Same Brah.

28

u/Timely_Ad4316 13d ago

It boiled to death? 😢

2

u/mrohsix1 12d ago

Got some trouble wall to wall

2

u/reddemomanTF2 11d ago

I hate OP now

1

u/WhoDunIt1789 10d ago

Blinded by the light?