The Perplexing Volvox

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Algae are found in many varieties, usually contributing to the ecosystem. (There are occasional bad boys that cause harmful algal blooms, however.) A green variety known as Volvox has several interesting features.

Floating on the water and making food through photosynthesis is probably boring, even for single-celled organisms. Someone who knows the details may object by saying Volvox is multicellular. Well, that can be both yes and no. I'll allow that they're less impressive to the naked eye, but things get interesting under the microscope. 

Even algae can be interesting, such as Volvox. It may not seem like much to the naked eye, but under the microscope are evolution-defying activities.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Frank Fox, www.mikro-foto.de (CC BY-SA 3.0 DE)

Disregarding mandates for socialist distancing, they group together into colonies. Then they use their tiny propellers to motor around with a single-minded purpose — quite a trick to do that without a brain. Believers in particle-to-protoplasm claim evolution did it (without evidence), but it is far more rational to believe that the facts support the work of the Master Engineer.

Algae are among the most abundant creatures on earth, growing rampantly in lakes, puddles, and even aquariums. The word algae usually brings to mind stagnant ponds covered with green sludge. Contrary to their foul reputation, algae are amazingly beautiful, diverse, and vital to life. They fill the seas, whether as solitary individuals or as gently swaying “kelp forests,” which feed an immense variety of hungry ocean-going creatures.

Under the microscope, algae populate a marvelous world of light-gathering, twirling, and spinning creatures. . . under a microscope they appear like spherical, translucent spaceships, composed of thousands of dancing algae cells sailing through the water.

To read the full article, spin on over to "Volvox—Single-celled Synchronized Swimmers".