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tardigrades

Quantum Entangled Tardigrades?

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Tardigrades — those microscopic, plump-bodied critters lovingly known as “moss piglets” — have been put through the ringer for science. The amazingly durable creatures have been shot out of guns, bathed in boiling-hot water, exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation and even (accidentally) crash-landed on the moon, all to test the limits of their impressive “tun” state — a survival mechanism wherein tardigrades curl up into shrunken, dehydrated balls and suspend their biological functions indefinitely in order to endure extreme environmental conditions. Now, researchers have exposed tardigrades to the coldest temperatures and highest pressures that moss piglets have ever survived — … Read more

All About Tardigrades

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Regular visitors to this site will know how much I adore waterbears. Today Live Science covers what we know about them: Tardigrades, often called water bears or moss piglets, are near-microscopic aquatic animals with plump, segmented bodies and flattened heads. They have eight legs, each tipped with four to eight claws or digits, and somewhat resemble the hookah-smoking caterpillar from “Alice in Wonderland.” Though tardigrades are disarmingly cute, they are also nearly indestructible and can even survive in outer space. Tardigrades were discovered in 1773 by the German zoologist Johann August Ephraim Goeze, who dubbed them “little water bear.” Three … Read more

Do Water Bears See in Black & White?

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Chubby, resilient tardigrades — arguably the cutest of all microscopic life — can survive punishing temperature extremes, exposure to the vacuum of space and even being shot out of a gun. But there’s one thing tardigrades can’t do: see in color. Tardigrades are related to arthropods (invertebrates with segmented bodies and exoskeletons), and arthropods can see colors because of light-sensitive proteins called opsins, which play a role in vision and circadian rhythms. Tardigrades have opsins too, but little was known about what they do, so scientists recently conducted genetic analysis in two species of tardigrades, to discover how opsins affected … Read more

What Happens When You Shoot a Water Bear Out of a Gun?

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Tardigrades, those adorable, chubby water bears, are notoriously hardy — they may even survive an apocalypse that wipes out humanity. But can these hardy water bears survive being shot from a gun? New research has found that yes, these hardy critters can make it out alive, but they also have a breaking point. The new study was inspired by uncertainty about the fate of tardigrades that were aboard Israel’s Beresheet probe when it crash-landed on the moon in 2019, according to Science magazine. Had the tardigrades, also called “water bears,” survived and contaminated Earth’s lifeless companion? After all, these teensy … Read more