The Magnificent Water Bear

Hello Humans! When you hear Water Bear, does an adorable bear sitting in a river come to mind? Well, that's kind of what a real Water Bear is, except a lot smaller. A Water Bear is my favorite MicroOrganism. It is a cute little segmented, 8-legged, water-dwelling Micro-Animal. But don't be fooled by the Tardigrade's cuteness. This animal can survive almost anything. We have so much to learn from them! Scientists actually try to find ways to kill Water Bears in order to understand what makes them able to survive so much.

Such experiments include sending Water Bears into the vacuum of space to see how long they would survive in a vacuum without air, and against solar radiation. Talk about an expensive science experiment. They can go without food or water for over 30 years! 30 years! I am dying of starvation if I don't have food every 3 hours. Water Bears have been known to survive temperatures of 1 K up to 420 K! For you non-scientists, that's 1 Kelvin, which is really, really, really close to absolute zero. Absolute Zero is where it is so cold that there is no molecule movement, so that no heat or energy is released. It's -272.15 degrees Celsius, which is -457.87 degrees Fahrenheit. And the other 420 K is 150 degrees Celsius, which is well above the boiling point of water. And the list goes on and on. These things are found from the tops of the Himalayas to the bottom of the deepest ocean, and from the polar ice caps to the equator.

One of the coolest things about Tardigrades is that they don't adapt to these conditions. They are just able to survive them. But, their chance of dying increases the longer they stay in these environments. And, they are super old. Like older than the dinosaurs old. The oldest fossil found of them to date, is from 530 million years ago. This means that Water Bears have survived many mass extinctions, 5 to be exact. One of which is known as "The Great Dying," which killed 96% of species. This things are amazing at surviving.

One of the best parts about Tardigrades is that if you want one of these adorable little creatures for a pet, you just have to go outside and find something wet, damp, or moist, and there will be tons of them on there. And the best part, you don't have to feed them, or take them for walks, or really worry about them at all. Yes! I found a way around my Hale's rule of no pets. Well, guess what Hale 1, I have a Water Bear as a pet. What are you going to do about that?

And just look at how cute their faces are! They look like little aliens! Wait, that is actually a debate in the Science world: Is a Water Bear an Alien or a Living Fossil?

All of these amazing traits of the Water Bear make it, by far, my favorite animal alive today. Maybe besides my doggie, because I can actually cuddle with her. Stay wild, flower child.