Marimos and Art Imitates Life

These were very cool - we saw these at Lake Akan; called marimo. Marimo (Japanese: 毬藻 marimo), also known as Cladophora ball, Lake ball, or Moss Balls in English, is a species of filamentous green algae (Chlorophyta) found in a number of lakes in the northern hemisphere. A marimo is a rare growth form of the species where the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. Colonies of such balls are known only from Iceland, Japan and Estonia. We took a ferry to this aquarium that housed the marimos.




This one was quite large - bigger than a human head.









And then, at an exhibit at University of Chicago we saw this at an exhibit titled "Science in Art". Called "Discretion", it was made by Naomi RaMona Schliesman. More about this exhibit in a later blog. Got to get through Japan first.