Water Bears

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You're looking at the toughest animal on Earth.


Tardigrades, slow walkers, have survived five mass extinctions.


They live on moss and such, sucking the nutrients out of them with their toothed extendable snouts.  Oh, and some of them eat tardigrades.


Cute is a matter of size.


"Research has found that tardigrades can withstand environments as cold as minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 200 Celsius) or highs of more than 300 degrees F (148.9 C), according to Smithsonian magazine. They can also survive radiation, boiling liquids, massive amounts of pressure of up to six times the pressure of the deepest part of the ocean and even the vacuum of space without any protection. A 2008 study published in the journal Current Biology found that some species of tardigrade could survive 10 days at low Earth orbit while being exposed to a space vacuum and radiation".



Over 1000 known species, which means there are many more to be discovered.


They are very small.


 Efficiency like this argues design, don'tcha know!


I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.   I can't lie to you about your chances, but... you have my sympathies.


Tardigrade, tardigrade
Walkin' slow like nature made.
I'm really freaked I really care,
I'm worried sick about the water bear.
Look out, here comes the Tardigrade!
 


 God just must have loved bizarre looking creatures, he sure made a lot of them.

https://gwijthoff.github.io/globalSF/readings/blish_surface_tension.pdf

Like I said, size is a relative thing.  But wait!  Here we have a post from Chaosfive-55, who seems to have stolen my idea and traveled back in time to scoop me on this essay.


Comments

  1. chaosfive55May 21, 2020 at 11:54 PM

    Hang on, I can get you the link...
    https://chaosfive55.tumblr.com/post/616157601665794048/chaosfive55-cutebiology-microscopic

    ReplyDelete
  2. Billy D BunnyAugust 18, 2021 at 11:03 AM

    Great link, I forgot all about this post. Oh, well, I sent it anyway, water bears are just awesome and I love talking about them.

    ReplyDelete

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