3/15/2006: Water Bears, the world's toughest animal

Undertoad · 03-15-2006, 12:00 PM

Oh man, what if this thing was comin' straight for ya! Too bad you wouldn't notice it - the biggest one would be a millimeter and a half in size, and you'd probably find it on a lichen or moss.

AxlRosen suggests this item. The "water bear" is more properly called a "tartigrade", and it was blogged about last week by Notes from the Technology Underground. I never heard of it before, but this thing is amazing. As blogger Bill Gurstelle writes:

Quote:

Now here's the thing I really like about tartigrades. They are apparently the World's Toughest Animal. You can shoot them into space, take them to the deepest ocean depths and let them go, deprive them of air, water, and food for years and they don't care. Send them into the core of nuclear reactor. They'll be fine.

Then he posts the Wikipedia link for the little dudes, where there are more amazing facts. They can hang out at 150 degrees C, or close to absolute zero. They found a living one that had been hibernating for 120 years.

Enh. I'm not impressed. Name me one tartigrade that's won the Nobel prize.

Trilby · 03-15-2006, 12:05 PM

umm...these things live on lichen or moss, right? not on people, right? Right?!

xant · 03-15-2006, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad

Enh. I'm not impressed. Name me one tartigrade that's won the Nobel prize.

Not yet. These things will outlive the cockroaches, and when they do, the speciesist Nobel committee will no longer be an issue.

Pancake Man · 03-15-2006, 08:02 PM

Bet he can't survive a lecture by my English teacher...

xoxoxoBruce · 03-15-2006, 08:14 PM

I spent 20 minutes looking at a bunch of sites. The color pictures show them bright red, but they can be orange or green, they have one gonad, they live everywhere and they'll withstand 5700 grays of x-ray radiation. (Five grays would be fatal to a human).
But nobody says what they eat?

AureliusVin · 03-15-2006, 08:24 PM

Damn, you think you could get one of these guys at a local pet shop? I'd pay a fine price for a little colony of tartigrades.

xoxoxoBruce · 03-15-2006, 08:27 PM

They're free! And they're everywhere.

jojo · 03-15-2006, 08:30 PM

don't they look all rubbery and squishy like they're filled with stretch armstrong gunk?

wolf · 03-15-2006, 09:13 PM

Thank you for making them just that little bit more disturbing. Good job.

jojo · 03-15-2006, 09:26 PM

how come they get to have 7 fingers and we only get 5.

Elspode · 03-15-2006, 11:41 PM

We were given dual gonads as compensation. That, and we aren't quite as fucking ugly as that thing.

Can you grow these any bigger?

Beestie · 03-15-2006, 11:50 PM

Whatever we do, let's not piss them off.

seakdivers · 03-16-2006, 12:44 AM

I'm pretty sure that they feed off of people named Bri.....ooooh wait....

ashke · 03-16-2006, 02:18 AM

Someone must have tried really hard to kill them to

Quote:

shoot them into space, take them to the deepest ocean depths and let them go, deprive them of air, water, and food for years

Skunks · 03-16-2006, 02:22 AM

How is it that this is defined as an "animal" instead of some other term that more aptly implies "teeny little critter"? Don't we have terms like "insect" and "bug" and others that more fit that size bracket?

& If the distinction isn't one of size but of component parts & makeup, then is this also remarkable in that it is much closer in bodily function to the things that come to mind when you say "animal" -- mammals, reptiles, birds and such -- than with insects?

03-15-2006, 12:05 PM	#2
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	umm...these things live on lichen or moss, right? not on people, right? Right?! __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

03-15-2006, 08:02 PM	#4
Pancake Man Hand-of-Kindness Extender Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 131	Bet he can't survive a lecture by my English teacher... __________________ Abandon all hope, o ye who read my posts

03-15-2006, 08:14 PM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	I spent 20 minutes looking at a bunch of sites. The color pictures show them bright red, but they can be orange or green, they have one gonad, they live everywhere and they'll withstand 5700 grays of x-ray radiation. (Five grays would be fatal to a human). But nobody says what they eat? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

03-15-2006, 08:27 PM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	They're free! And they're everywhere. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

03-15-2006, 09:13 PM	#9
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Thank you for making them just that little bit more disturbing. Good job. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

03-15-2006, 08:24 PM	#6
AureliusVin Expectorant Inspector Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 31	Damn, you think you could get one of these guys at a local pet shop? I'd pay a fine price for a little colony of tartigrades.

03-15-2006, 08:30 PM	#8
jojo is anyone home? Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: state of denial Posts: 42	don't they look all rubbery and squishy like they're filled with stretch armstrong gunk?

03-15-2006, 09:26 PM	#10
jojo is anyone home? Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: state of denial Posts: 42	how come they get to have 7 fingers and we only get 5.

03-15-2006, 11:41 PM	#11
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	We were given dual gonads as compensation. That, and we aren't quite as fucking ugly as that thing. Can you grow these any bigger? __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

03-15-2006, 11:50 PM	#12
Beestie -◊\|≡·∙■·∙≡\|◊- Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Parts unknown. Posts: 4,081	Whatever we do, let's not piss them off. __________________ ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦

03-16-2006, 12:44 AM	#13
seakdivers Icy Queen Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Southeast Alaska Posts: 700	I'm pretty sure that they feed off of people named Bri.....ooooh wait....

03-16-2006, 02:22 AM	#15
Skunks I thought I changed this. Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: western nowhere, ny Posts: 412	How is it that this is defined as an "animal" instead of some other term that more aptly implies "teeny little critter"? Don't we have terms like "insect" and "bug" and others that more fit that size bracket? & If the distinction isn't one of size but of component parts & makeup, then is this also remarkable in that it is much closer in bodily function to the things that come to mind when you say "animal" -- mammals, reptiles, birds and such -- than with insects?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread: