Water bears in space

[The Straight Story]

Water bears in space

In 2007, a little known creature called a tardigrade became the first animal to survive exposure to space.

It prevailed over sub-zero temperatures, unrelenting solar winds and an oxygen-deprived space vacuum.

On Monday, this microscopic cosmonaut has once again hitched a ride into space on the Nasa shuttle Endeavour.

Its mission: to help scientists understand more about how this so-called "hardiest animal on Earth" can survive for short periods off it.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/12855775

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. my ex mother in law went to outer space?

[roguevalley]

15. I want one. reminds me of an old boy friend. :-D

[ChairmanAgnostic]

17. all hands, small brain? I think I met him once. . .

[roguevalley]

18. snort! Bingo!

[tridim]

2. That pic is f*cking with my brain.

It looks like a guy wearing an inflatable suit in a waterslide.

[Snoutport]

13. or a terrible hoax! It looks like a seventh grader just may have photo shopped it

[tridim]

14. Looks like that pic is the real deal..

Truly an awesome example of life. The "mouth" is absolutely incredible.

[Snoutport]

21. scary! but it is amazing...think of all the tiny life we don't know about!

[Blue-Jay]

3. We must kill the water bears before they kill us.

You just know that they're planning violence.

[Uncle Joe]

4. That tube looks artificial, sort of like a computer connection or USB port.

Thanks for the thread, The Straight Story.

[Wounded Bear]

5. Cool Stuff! Thanks! nt

[KittyWampus]

6. that thing looks fake! With a vacuum nozzle stuck in it's face.

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. No kidding, it looks like a used vacuum cleaner bag with legs. n/t

[KittyWampus]

7. learned a new word- cryptobiosis

[The Straight Story]

8. Have to work that into a crossword puzzle somewhere

Just to be mean :rofl:

[damntexdem]

9. Don't tell Steven Colbert -- he'd really go off the (parody) deep end.

And he'd get all the water bear (tardigrade) activists mad at him. ;-)

[drmeow]

10. There's video of them here

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14690-water-bears-are-first-animal-to-survive-space-vacuum.html

[surrealAmerican]

11. k & r

Best water bear article I've ever read!

[Retrograde]

12. My favorite animal!

They'll even out-survive the cockroaches

[Hugabear]

16. Looks like something from Star Wars

doesn't look real at all

[WatsonT]

19. They're kinda cuddly

[RegieRocker]

20. Easy to tell it's wearing a environmental suit.