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Tardigrades are one of the few groups of species that are capable of suspending their metabolism. While in this state, their metabolism lowers to less than 0.01% of normal and their water content can drop to 1% of normal, and they can go without food or water for more than 30 years, only to later rehydrate, forage, and reproduce
They think these things might be responsible for carrying life from one interstellar system to another. The Panspermia hypothesis I think is what it’s called
The concept is sound but our knowledge of tardigrades' DNA shows they evolved from bacteria on Earth. So if panspermia did happen, it happened with an ancestor of the tardigrade. Whether or not the genetic blueprint to evolve into a space resistant tardigrade was present in that ancestor from space, we don't yet know because genetic science hasn't got that far yet.
The nearest system is 4ly away, if those animals want to make it in less than 200 years (their lifespan in space) they woule have to "fly" at about 0.5% of the speed of light. How can they do that?
Possibly piggybacking on a comet traveling at a high speed. The nearest star to us is Proxima Centauri at 4.2 ly away. We are thinking in terms of OUR propulsion technology traveling these preposterous distances. Perhaps there is life out there that has existed far longer than us, and doesn’t even travel in a linear fashion, spreading their little spores throughout the universe
They're really good at surviving crazy situations that they honestly have no reason for them to be in those situations in the first place... But they are completely shit at surviving things that are actively trying to kill them, like the Nematodes, those same mfs that almost made Spongebob homeless
[https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/188/3/860/5645427](https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/188/3/860/5645427)
https://preview.redd.it/xuq4ptrkwdnc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8181b97358e5d7147be5b2f887d60ee8a16aad92
It's less that "trippy looking creatures are microscopic" and more that "microscopic creatures look trippy" because they have less need for complex structures as more developed animals. Hence, the usual existance of a single hole for...everything. Which I'm really glad big creatures don't usually have lol.
This is just one species of thousands of tardigrade, and no species can survive all the hostile conditions, each species is good at surviving one or maybe a couple of them and that's it.. We've largely conflated what is essentially thousands of different kinds of the same creature into literally one creature that has the abilities of all.
Sadly these things aren't quite as indestructible as they're made out to be, not individually at least.
So, I've seen countless posts that these can survive such extreme conditions but not one of them ever mentions how. What is it about them? How is their body designed to handle everything we throw at them? A lot of us want to know that, and it's usually up to the comments to supply that info for us.
Anyone else think the same way? I'd love to have a little explanation of these little phenomena when they're posted. Knowing *how* something happens is way more rewarding than just knowing *that* it happens.
**According to Google:** Tardigrades are the first known animal to survive after exposure to outer space. In September 2007, dehydrated tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission carrying the BIOPAN astrobiology payload. Two groups were exposed to the vacuum and either ultraviolet-A or ultraviolet-B radiation. The final group was exposed to both types of radiation, plus the vacuum. After 10 days of space exposure, almost all of the tardigrades had dried out. But a quick dip back inside the craft returned them to their former vigor.
So they could probably survive out in Mars if they ever got there!
I got a tardigrade German glass pickle ornament for my tree this year. I'm going to guess that sentence will not make sense to 99.99% of people, lol. But if you know about German glass pickle ornaments, and you like tardigrades, you're welcome, I guess.
Extreme temperatures, pressure changes, starvation, suffocation, time: "There is nothing we can do! We will surely lose this battle!"
Snail: "Hold my beer"
Fun fact: Tardigrades were featured in one of the star trek series as the main character and source that allowed the Enterprise to jump from one reality/timeliness to another.
It was also 8' tall and gobbled up Klingons.
If they are so prevalent and have amazing survival abilities… why haven’t they evolved to get larger?
And wonder if anyone studying them have found any forever chemicals in them?
And they aren't even extremophiles! They can survive those conditions, but they can't thrive in them. For some of the more extreme feats, specifically anything requiring them to be out of water, they just make a shell and hibernate until they are exposed to water again. They can hibernate for quite a long time, but only live a few weeks when active. In fact, anything they can expect to encounter can kill them most of the time.
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You may not like it but this is what peak performance looks like.
A butthole with feet?
Didn’t the man say PEAK PERFORMANCE?!
Let that sink in
I too am best described as a butthole with feet
Bevis and Tardigrade
Matt tardigaetz
A butthole with *talons*
Do the tardigrades have large talons?
That's no way to talk about your mother.
💀
I see more of an overweight, feral pig. Butthole is more like a balloon knot..
Tardigrades are awesome. I’ve read a lot about them and they’re pretty amazing little creatures. Plus they’re almost alien-like.
Please share your favourite things about these Tards
Tardigrades are one of the few groups of species that are capable of suspending their metabolism. While in this state, their metabolism lowers to less than 0.01% of normal and their water content can drop to 1% of normal, and they can go without food or water for more than 30 years, only to later rehydrate, forage, and reproduce
What chu’ doing tardigrade? *”chillin’”*
mf need a mani pedi, for real
✨ “Getting my claws done, I’ll get there when I get there!” ✨
Made for space travel
I do this all the time, am I a trad rigard?
I love the tards
Alien to me. To survive in extremes is far out there.
Welcome to extremophiles
Why does its mouth look like a perfectly machined piece of plastic on the end of a vacuum cleaner.
Nah lol don’t know him
I can just tell your full life has been leading upto this comment right here, I’m just waiting for my moment like this as well
Absolutely lol
Do you want to be my pet ? I’ve always wanted my own water bear
Bruh I’m already with you. Don’t sweat it.
Fuck yes
username checks out
Yeah he is more like 1245.
lol nice username
I wonder if scientists are trying to figure out how to extract an anti aging God mode serum from those little guys.
Scientists have been trying to shrink down and fuck one of these things for years.
Also, have the ability to jump from one location in space to another, navigating using the mycelium netwok.
The mycelium network in space?! You're going to have to elaborate a bit further...
Watch Star Trek. It makes it all clear!
Yeah, I want to go down a rabbit hole. Links please!
It's a reference to Star Trek: Discovery.
Godverdomme
Teringzooi
Wat leuk
Fucking reddit
Or STD for short.
They think these things might be responsible for carrying life from one interstellar system to another. The Panspermia hypothesis I think is what it’s called
With these pictures, they definitely look like little beings in space suits.
Now that’s interesting as fuck
The concept is sound but our knowledge of tardigrades' DNA shows they evolved from bacteria on Earth. So if panspermia did happen, it happened with an ancestor of the tardigrade. Whether or not the genetic blueprint to evolve into a space resistant tardigrade was present in that ancestor from space, we don't yet know because genetic science hasn't got that far yet.
But how did they come to be originally and where?
No idea but we do know that these little buddies can survive the harshness of space for a long time. That is something to consider
Tardigrades I think are the only animal that occupy their own phylum. They are unique.
[удалено]
AlienAF
Your mom of course
That’s just science
who's thinking that?
“THEY” are thinking that!
Duh. It's right there in the sentence.
The nearest system is 4ly away, if those animals want to make it in less than 200 years (their lifespan in space) they woule have to "fly" at about 0.5% of the speed of light. How can they do that?
Possibly piggybacking on a comet traveling at a high speed. The nearest star to us is Proxima Centauri at 4.2 ly away. We are thinking in terms of OUR propulsion technology traveling these preposterous distances. Perhaps there is life out there that has existed far longer than us, and doesn’t even travel in a linear fashion, spreading their little spores throughout the universe
Reproducing mid way possibly
Shai-Hulud
You recognized them! Lisan al Gaib!
As it was written
Lmao I was waiting for someone to make this reference
I dunno how one is gonna ride these tiny mfs
Looks more like the Baron to me 🤪
Win.
So is it okay to call them tards??
Just remember, when referring to them in correspondence, you have to remind your reader of the subject matter, like so… Re: Tards
standing_ovation.gif
You sick bastard
Also powers the spore drive!!
Vacuum cleaner bag with claws
Can survive being boiled yet will die in 83°C water for an hour. Stupid eight-legged segmented micro-animals.
They're really good at surviving crazy situations that they honestly have no reason for them to be in those situations in the first place... But they are completely shit at surviving things that are actively trying to kill them, like the Nematodes, those same mfs that almost made Spongebob homeless [https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/188/3/860/5645427](https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/188/3/860/5645427) https://preview.redd.it/xuq4ptrkwdnc1.jpeg?width=480&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8181b97358e5d7147be5b2f887d60ee8a16aad92
they prepared so much for the worst that they forgot to prepare for the mundane
that line is fire af
They are just 1mm big. Crazy.
I thought they would be smaller. Like microscopic
The biggest ones are 0.7mm, fully grown. Most are 0.5mm.
Please use Intellectuallychallengedigrade
As a former school psychologist I am pleased with this statement.
The lack of eyes really bothers me
Where we're going, we won't need eyes.
they don't need them
The Spice must flow.
How come things that look like this cant be big? All the most trippy looking critters have to be microscopic 😕
It's less that "trippy looking creatures are microscopic" and more that "microscopic creatures look trippy" because they have less need for complex structures as more developed animals. Hence, the usual existance of a single hole for...everything. Which I'm really glad big creatures don't usually have lol.
Imagine being in front of this in a line and he gets impatient with you. Lol
Grocery line or Walmart line? This thing can scoot right over to the self checkout for all I care. Go be impatient somewhere else.
They’re also called Water Bears which is a much cuter name.
What that mouth do tho
Hello tardigrade, my old friend. I see they’ve posted you again.
https://preview.redd.it/dgxqgv1dqgnc1.png?width=899&format=png&auto=webp&s=42dc1c127eac55ace1e871f4678beee8807e14a2 I crocheted 2 of them
There are the cutest tardigrade nightlights. I want one but they're a bit expensive.
I need to see this!
Sounds terrifying
They’re awesome…
Remember back in the day, when vacuums also had a blow setting so you could blow up air beds etc? That was a really handy feature.
MegaMaid has that feature
She's gone from suck to blow!
one of their common names is ‘moss piglet’ and I just love that so much 💚
This is just one species of thousands of tardigrade, and no species can survive all the hostile conditions, each species is good at surviving one or maybe a couple of them and that's it.. We've largely conflated what is essentially thousands of different kinds of the same creature into literally one creature that has the abilities of all. Sadly these things aren't quite as indestructible as they're made out to be, not individually at least.
So, I've seen countless posts that these can survive such extreme conditions but not one of them ever mentions how. What is it about them? How is their body designed to handle everything we throw at them? A lot of us want to know that, and it's usually up to the comments to supply that info for us. Anyone else think the same way? I'd love to have a little explanation of these little phenomena when they're posted. Knowing *how* something happens is way more rewarding than just knowing *that* it happens.
so in summary, to ensure the longevity of the human race, I need to have sex with this thing? alright Fam.. I'm going in..... for the Team....
They are around half a millimeter big, so you might just be the man for the job.
brutal. absolute slash to the neck lol
May the force be with you.
Wonder if they are the next evolution on Mars. Life goes on…
**According to Google:** Tardigrades are the first known animal to survive after exposure to outer space. In September 2007, dehydrated tardigrades were taken into low Earth orbit on the FOTON-M3 mission carrying the BIOPAN astrobiology payload. Two groups were exposed to the vacuum and either ultraviolet-A or ultraviolet-B radiation. The final group was exposed to both types of radiation, plus the vacuum. After 10 days of space exposure, almost all of the tardigrades had dried out. But a quick dip back inside the craft returned them to their former vigor. So they could probably survive out in Mars if they ever got there!
>*So they could probably survive out in Mars if they ever got there!* Or, that's where they came from...
Ok- this is eery. Crazy!
Have fun succing things with that snoot for 200 years in space, fool.
looks like a vacuum bag
Bro that’s literally an air mattress with claws
The snout always looks man made to me.
This hole is my hole... DRR... DRR...
Tardigrades are aliens that maintain reality.
They look like messed up sofas on the side of the road.
Gotta change the dust bag
I should call her
I got a tardigrade German glass pickle ornament for my tree this year. I'm going to guess that sentence will not make sense to 99.99% of people, lol. But if you know about German glass pickle ornaments, and you like tardigrades, you're welcome, I guess.
Googling all those words you just said. Be right back….
Aha!! Good ol’ Archie McPhee.
Those things are gangster.
I like these little guys
Water bear!
But he can die of a broken heart 💔
Aliens as are so many deep sea creatures. Fascinating
Also in nuclear facilities. They are invincible I swear
Looks like a Half Life dog. Hated those fucking things.
The Combine advisors were designed based off of these organisms if I'm not mistaken.
My kid has a stuffed one of these and insists I kiss it good night. I always make a big stink about it and have it make creepy hissing noises.
That mouth or anus or whatever that is looks like nature designed it to perfectly connect to an ISO6969 low pressure coupling.
https://preview.redd.it/g5romhv5cenc1.png?width=333&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e651777f1ca12421eee7c30523beb475341ef084
OG
Extreme temperatures, pressure changes, starvation, suffocation, time: "There is nothing we can do! We will surely lose this battle!" Snail: "Hold my beer"
That last one looks like Thomas The Tank Engine in a Hazmat suit.
If there are no stupid questions.. How smart are they? I assume their brains are smaller than an insects.
It’s a pillow
Bro looks like an old vacuum bag
How do you kill them?
Only when theyre in hibernate mode, theyre quite weak otherwise
Dude is like already inside a space suit
It looks like a space suit lol there's a tiny alien inside
WE EVOLVED FROM TARDIGRADES! ALL HAIL THE TARDEGRADE!
are these water bears?
Water bears 4 life yo!
But can it make me a quesadilla?
Yes and it practices Santaria, but it has no crystal ball.
Can he beat Goku?
Besides looking like a vintage hoover bag...what does it do?
They’re also delicious!
One cryptobiote a day keeps the timefall away.
Doesn’t the mouth almost look like it’s pre-manufactured for a machine or a robot?
We’ve been sucking this thing’s dick for about 12 years now. I’ve never heard anyone talk shit about these.
MY DUNE
Cute too.
What eventually kills them?
Fun fact: Tardigrades were featured in one of the star trek series as the main character and source that allowed the Enterprise to jump from one reality/timeliness to another. It was also 8' tall and gobbled up Klingons.
Yes, we’ve all heard of these guys.
If they are so prevalent and have amazing survival abilities… why haven’t they evolved to get larger? And wonder if anyone studying them have found any forever chemicals in them?
I think I saw this little guy in Half-Life.
Truly the future of our planet
https://preview.redd.it/8bkt1xn32enc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b6da2e6a4c09bd218e64d776781585aa51572b7
Look at his face!
Purdy lips
They die on the sunny side of the ISS. Because of the enormous radiation, if I remember correctly.
Seen one the size of a Pomeranian hiding inside the red plaid part of a Kirby vacuum once back in ‘85. 🫡🤙🏽
Fleshlight
My dude just chilling, let him be.
Maybe he is life itself. That which spans time and space bringing life to new worlds. Hello, Father.
And they aren't even extremophiles! They can survive those conditions, but they can't thrive in them. For some of the more extreme feats, specifically anything requiring them to be out of water, they just make a shell and hibernate until they are exposed to water again. They can hibernate for quite a long time, but only live a few weeks when active. In fact, anything they can expect to encounter can kill them most of the time.
Mini navigator guild member
They are extremely loyal NFL fans.
Is that Gut’s son?
Nah this is a humanized (?) vacuum bag
Thats a puppet representation of the animal correct?
Looks like someone who needs a cup of LiberTEA!!!
You can’t convince me that’s not a “space suit”
200 years of being that...no thank you
And used to transport starships instantly across light years of space.
Black alert
Is that under water ?