A Few Billion Strange Worms Found Frozen in Ice

Not many annual celebrations around the world are hyped up and celebrated as excitedly as Christmas, but one that is is Worm Week. In today's Worm Week video, we take a look at some truly mysterious creatures with a rather odd habitat - glaciers. I mean truly mysterious by the way - we know almost nothing about these things. That's why the video's only three minutes long!

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[loszhor]

0:38 Glacier Worms' only weakness, extreme cold! Who would have ever guessed!?

[WaterShowsProd]

I never knew about ice worms before, and now I know very little about them, which means I know more than most people when it comes to ice worms.

[erichtomanek]

So the algae and bacteria are ice plankton.
The little black worms are ice trout.
And in time, one emerges as a fully formed giant ice worm, 200 metres long, ridden by Muad-Dib...

[barrydysert]

Spring 1983, the Santiam Pass in the High Cascades of central Oregon between the Mt Jefferson and Mt Washington wilderness areas. i was shown these worms as a curiosity. They were in the melting snow around the youth camp where i was working at least 20 miles from the neatest glacier. The camp caretaker had collected some the previous year for researchers from the University of Oregon. He kept them in a jar of water in the refrigerator for several months until the roads were cleared of snow. He never heard anything more about them. i am truly curious about any connection there might be with the worms "discovery" by science?!? Been wondering about those little black worms for almost 40 years !:-)

[tinamclaughlin]

Have a very Wormy Christmas! Keep the knowledge coming! Even what's not known.

[johnsteiner]

Sci-fi author: "ICE WORMS! That's what will attack the heroes!"

Reader: "That's ridiculous! Ice worms. Pfff!"

Science guy: "Well...."

[Her_Viscera]

Great worm this week guys, really enjoyed the videos

[cxbaob]

today we had a great time with JWST launch and a worms video. thanks!

[boyinblue.]

Another great worm video, this has been amazing.

[empatheticfrog]

This channel is really worming its way into my heart.

[thedoruk]

This most definetly doesnt sound like *the thing* horror sci fi movies subject at all(!)

[slicerneons]

Are Ice Worms Plotting World Domination As We Speak?
Alas, we do not know that for certain either.

[kuzzbillington]

folks, remember to never sit on glacier ice without minimum protection, like speedos

[LukeCampbellBrennan]

In the wonderful Alastair Reynolds’s short story ‘Glacial’ extraterrestrial analogues of these ice worms form a network in the ice of their planet that exhibits many properties similar to a neural network, leading to questions about the nature of cognition. Can a glacier think? Can simple bilaterians replace neuronal electrical impulses? And are Earth’s worms playing a similar tune? Was a pretty fun story.

[essr]

I wonder how specialized these are, and if they are really diverse how many species have gone extinct in the past century or so

[brendanhoffmann]

This was a really fascinating episode!

[tomfiddzy]

I now don't know a lot about these worms

[kallisto]

For Christmas, my family gave me gloves, alcohol, fancy food... Ben and Doug brought me worms. Guess who pleased me more.

[Guydude]

I have no idea what I learned from this video, but regardless, thank you for the content.

[Dazulolwarrior]

now the whole ancient pathogens frozen in ice horror movies makes sense