Hey folks, here’s a post about my journey in the Himalayas with Foldscope. Follow me on Twitter and Researchgate to know more.
My current endeavour on Tardigrades (water bears) started as a passion for Astrobiology, these tiny creatures are known to survive extreme environment conditions (i.e., low or high temperatures/pressures, high dosage of X-rays/gamma rays/UV radiations) and then revert to normal state as if nothing happened. They undergo a state where the metabolism rate almost reaches zero. This state is known as Cryptobiosis. Further Reading
Now what’s the connection with the Himalayas?? Tardigrades are distributed throughout the globe, you name the place, you’re going to find them there. Yes!!! The Himalayas too!!!
So my journey started from the lower valleys of Kullu-Manali (32.2396325 N 77.1887145 E; 1898m above sea level) in search of Tardigrades
River Baes overlooking the valley
Manali Forest 01
Manali Forest 02
Manali jungle 01
Manali Jungle 02
Found and collected Lichen samples in the place
Lichen Sample 01
Lichen Sample 02
Lichen Sample 03
Lichen Sample 04
Me, collecting some Lichen samples
Me and Deepak failed to find Tardigrades, so we collected some more to bring it back to the lab.
Me, finding for some Tardigrades
Deepak too..
We further trekked to our next site, Sethan (32.2361262 N 77.222686 E; 2722 m above sea level) and collected some more samples and halted for the day.
Path to Sethan
Sethan Valley
Strange tree on the way. LOL!!!!
Lichen Sample 01
Lichen Sample 02
Lichen Sample 03
Stay Tuned for Part 02….
Cheers
For other Parts, click links
Part 02
Part 03
Part 04
Part 05
Part 06
Part 07
Part 08