Ariel Waldman: What Can We Learn From Microscopic Life In Antarctica?

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Through The Looking Glass

Many people think of Antarctica as desolate. But wildlife filmmaker Ariel Waldman says the coldest continent is brimming with invisible life — that can only be seen through microscopes.

About Ariel Waldman

Ariel Waldman is a wildlife filmmaker whose work captures microscopic life in Antarctica. She is also the chair of NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts project for developing long-term aerospace travel programs.

Waldman wrote the National Academy of Sciences report on the future of human spaceflight, and the science book What's It Like In Space?: Stories from Astronauts Who've Been There.

She serves as the global director of Science Hack Day, a grassroots endeavor to "make weird, silly or serious things with science." She was also the host and producer of Offworld, a show on Adam Savage's Tested. In 2013, she received an honor from the Obama White House for being a Champion of Change in science.

Waldman is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. [Copyright 2021 NPR]