Water Bears in Space

Ever hear of an animal that can survive boiling hot springs, being frozen inside a glacier, and even the vacuum of space?

Meet the tardigrade, sometimes also called a “water bear.”

Not only do they exhibit a seemingly supernatural ability to withstand environments that would be instantly fatal to most other forms of life, but they look like cute little bears with (admittedly terrifying) claws.

Let’s talk about tardigrades today.

I mentioned that they’re animals, which might lead you to assume they’re insects, but instead tardigrades have their own phylum Tardigrada. Their size is comparable to that of insects, but that’s where the similarities end.

Unlike insects, tardigrades have four pairs of legs, not six. Their bodies aren’t segmented the way insects are—remember head, abdomen, and thorax? Instead, tardigrades are basically tube-shaped.

Here’s where things get really wild. If water isn’t available, tardigrades can shrink up and enter a state called tun. In this state, their bodies re…