The Tardigrade: Our Indestructible Micro-Animals

Deep in the waters of our world lives an awe-inspiring tiny creature known as the tardigrade, or water bear.

These microscopic animals, typically measuring just 0.5 mm in length, possess a breathtaking hardiness that belies their diminutive size.

Tardigrades can endure extreme environments that would be lethal to nearly all other life forms.

They can withstand temperatures ranging from just above absolute zero (-273.15 °C) to well above boiling point (150 °C).

They can survive pressures six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, and can also handle the vacuum of outer space.

Tardigrades can go without food or water for more than 30 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce when conditions improve.

Approximately 1,300 known species in existence, tardigrades, have been found everywhere from mountaintops to the deepest sea and mud volcanoes; they also appear in the Arctic..