It's obvious that humans rule the Earth now, but there is an animal that can survive a lot more than we can. It has survived almost every test we have performed on them, and most of us don't even know they exist. They are called tardigrades.
They look like aliens. They are tiny (1/50th of an inch), have eight legs, and kind of chubby. Here's a picture of them:
Anyway, they are considered extremophiles, which are organisms that can live in conditions that would kill most other life forms. How tough is this "water bear"? Let's take a look.
How do they fare in the heat and cold? Well, they have been heated to 304 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes. To cool them off, scientists then placed them in a chamber cooled to -324 degrees Fahrenheit for days. Some were even able to survive at -428 degrees for a few minutes, just above the lowest physically possible temperature. A+.
What about pressure? Many deep sea fish are constantly pushing outward to compensate for the water pressure. When they are brought up to the surface, they still push their bodies outward, causing them to explode with no water pressure. Tardigrades are different story. They have survived being in a vacuum for 10 days without exploding (like the fish), and have had survived 6,000 times the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere, or the equivalent of six times the water pressure of the deepest point in the ocean. A+ again.
Camels can survive a long time without water. As famous as they are, they are put to shame by tardigrades. These little guys can go 10 whole years without water and survive. A leg twitch (which isn't really considered survival, but still) has been observed 120 years without water. A++.
Chernobyl is one of the world's most deadly nuclear disasters. It is still not safe to be around due to radiation. Tardigrades don't care. Surviving 1,000 times more radiation than other animals, scientists aren't sure how they do it. One explanation is that their low hydration (possible because they can survive without water for a while) ionizes the radiation, rendering it harmless. A+ again!
For its final act of survival, it will try to survive the most dangerous enviornment of all. As I've mentioned, it can survive a lot a radiation, and it can survive in a vacuum. Sounds like outer space to me. With an extreme change of pressure and no ozone layer to block radiation, the most hostile environment is no environment at all. Dehydrated tardigrades were sent into a low Earth orbit. Surprisingly, 68% of them survived. Pretty amazing. A+ for all of them.
Thanks for reading! Make sure to comment below as well! Next time, let's tackle a physics topic, shall we? Tune in then!
Until next time,
Ben's jamin'
Benjamin
P.S. Make sure you check out John's math blog at http://johncooksmathblog.blogspot.com.
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