infocus #70 June 2023 Nature's smallest glasshouses visible from space

It is well-known that algae grows wherever there is water, both fresh and salty, sometimes causing serious problems.

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.251

It is formed by tiny, unicellular organisms known as diatoms. These were first identified in 1703 in a report in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, although the name of the finder is surprisingly, unknown.

Observing with a simple microscope the roots of pond weed, he "saw adhering to them (and sometimes separate in the water) many pretty branches, compos'd of rectangular oblongs and exact squares." This description is our first written record of diatoms in the scientific community.

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