We all know about our classic marine animals: turtles, sharks, jellyfish…but they can only live here on Earth. Most creatures have adapted to the planet’s conditions to survive, but would any of them survive beyond our atmosphere?

Hiding behind the shadows lives the tardigrade, a small animal around 0.5 millimeters long and 40,000 cells big that can survive in extreme environments such as boiling water, immense pressure, insane radiation, and the vacuum of space. They are nicknamed water bears for their plump bodies and can be seen with the naked eye, usually looking like small specks of dust. They have eight legs with tiny claws which can be seen under a microscope. 

They live in mossy and wet areas, but when forced into dried locations, they are able to curl into a ball and drop their metabolism to less than 1% of their usual rate. Tardigrades eat plants and algae, and are related to worms and spiders. In lab experiments, scientists froze tardigrades only to defrost them later, finding that tardigrades will live up to 30 years frozen. Tardigrades were discovered in Germany in 1773, live all over Earth, and can even be found in your own backyard!

To find tardigrades, you first want to put some moss into a container and fill it with rainwater. This will soak the tardigrades and get them moving. Then you can put them under a microscope and the studying can begin!

Written by Val