As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

tardigrade

U=(N/T)M*G: Unearthed

by
tardigrade - deposit photos

Any time I can talk about Tardigrades, you can bet good money I’m going to do exactly that. These little “bears” have so much potential in science. They do all the things, and it’s my personal belief that trans-human modification will start with enhancements from gene-splicing with Tardigrades. Especially with the problems we’re still trying to solve with deep space exploration. Macrobiotus naginae are a soil type Tardigrade. At this rate, there will be more types of these suckers than Pokemon. The specialty of these ones is the ability to live in arid conditions. Deserts. Cold ones too. If humans … Read more

Some Tardigrades Have Light Shields!

by
Tardigrade Light Shield

Scientists have discovered yet another reason to be impressed with tardigrades; some of these microscopic, nearly indestructible creatures wear a glowing “shield” that protects them from ultraviolet radiation. Tubby tardigrades — also called moss piglets or water bears — are known for their toughness, able to withstand extreme heat, cold and pressure, as well as the vacuum of space. They can also survive exposure to levels of radiation that would kill many other life-forms. Now, scientists have uncovered new clues about tardigrades’ radiation resistance. Experiments with tardigrades in the Paramacrobiotus genus revealed that fluorescence protects them like a layer of … Read more

Water Bears On the Sun!

by
Solar Tardigrade - ESA

Regular followers of the QSF blog know we have a soft spot for tardigrades – also called “water bears,” and we live for space news. So we HAD to share this one with you! From Live Science: No, tardigrades haven’t colonized the sun. But a tardigrade-shaped speck on a solar mission’s images recently led to some joking about the unlikely solar presence of a wee water bear. Today (July 16), when the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA unveiled the latest images captured by the agencies’ Solar Orbiter mission, some sharp-eyed viewers were quick to point out a small, dark blotch on … Read more

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Water Bears

by
tardigrade - deposit photos

Emma at Modest Fish heard about my mini obsession with tardigrades – also known more fondly as water bears – and sent me this great article to share: You may have heard of water bears and wondered if they’re really as amazing as people make them out to be. As someone who has personally worked with Tardigrades in the lab, I can confirm that, not only are they fascinating, they’re adorable too. And, in this article, I’m going to show you what sets them apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. What Is A Tardigrade? The name Tardigrade literally … Read more

SPACE: Could “Water Bear” DNA Help Us Survive on mars?

by
tardigrade - deposit photos

Will we one day combine tardigrade DNA with our cells to go to Mars? Chris Mason, a geneticist and associate professor of physiology and biophysics at Weill Cornell University in New York, has investigated the genetic effects of spaceflight and how humans might overcome these challenges to expand our species farther into the solar system. One of the (strangest) ways that we might protect future astronauts on missions to places like Mars, Mason said, might involve the DNA of tardigrades, tiny micro-animals that can survive the most extreme conditions, even the vacuum of space! Mason led one of the 10 … Read more

SPACE: Water Bears on the Moon!

by
tardigrade - deposit photos

When you look up at the moon, there may now be a few thousand water bears looking back at you. The Israeli spacecraft Beresheet crashed into the moon during a failed landing attempt on April 11. In doing so, it may have strewn the lunar surface with thousands of dehydrated tardigrades, Wired reported yesterday (Aug. 5). Beresheet was a robotic lander. Though it didn’t transport astronauts, it carried human DNA samples, along with the aforementioned tardigrades and 30 million very small digitized pages of information about human society and culture. However, it’s unknown if the archive — and the water … Read more

Meet the New Tardigrade – Even Weirder Than the Old One

by
Tardigrade

A newfound species of tardigrade, or “water bear,” with tendril-festooned eggs has been discovered in the parking lot of an apartment building in Japan. The newfound tardigrade, Macrobiotus shonaicus, is the 168th species of this sturdy micro-animal ever discovered in Japan. Tardigrades are famous for their toughness: They can survive in extreme cold (down to minus 328 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 200 Celsius), extreme heat (more than 300 degrees F, or 149 degrees C), and even the unrelenting radiation and vacuum of space, as one 2008 study reported. They’re bizarre and adorable at the same time, with eight legs on … Read more