Our superheroes
Plankton is crucial for the ecological balance and health of the Earth. It deserves to be on everyone's lips. But it isn't. Why is that?
Multifaceted superheroes.
The marine organisms that fall under the collective term plankton are difficult to define, as they could hardly be more diverse. From giant jellyfish to microscopic single-celled organisms, from animals to plants, from freshwater to saltwater organisms – all plankton actually share only one characteristic: they are poor swimmers and drift in the water like dust in the air.
Without technical aids, many Plankter are invisible. In their world, where water is as viscous as honey, where one can repair oneself, glow from within, and live forever, where some have no heart and some no brain, where bodies are transparent, where tiny beings form forests, and where one animal is sometimes made up of many – here we are the strangers.
Nowhere else on our planet is there so much new to discover and so many secrets to uncover as in the world of plankton. Scientists suspect that it holds the key to solving the riddle of life, curing diseases, and saving the climate. They study the mechanical systems and ingenious designs of plankton and are often amazed by their diversity.
Half of the world's oxygen, the entire marine food chain, and countless other planetary services rest on the shoulders of these tiny wanderers.
