What are Tardigrades? | Earth Unplugged

Tardigrades might have the cute nickname of "water bears", but they're amongst the toughest animals on earth and the only one that can survive in space.

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[ProjectMerljn]

Humans: ugh, its so hot/cold outside. Tardigrade: Breh, hold my beer...

[Amy-zbph]

I haven't only heard of tardigrades, I've seen them under my own microscope! I didn't know what they were when I first saw one. I was walking home from my biology class and I collected a few specimens to put under the microscope when I got home. I picked up some moss because we had been studying that in my class on all the different classes of organisms. I prepared a slide of the moss when I got home and put it under the microscope. The moss was cool but the tardigrade is what drew my attention. I probably watched it walk around for a good hour before I had to walk across the street and go to my next class. I wanted to keep looking at it and so I put the slide in my refrigerator because I didn't want the tardigrade to walk off. I fully expect the fridge to kill it and, when I first put it under the microscope, I thought it had died. However, the heat from the microscope's light warmed it back up again and it went back to what it was doing before I put the whole slid in the fridge.

The crazy thing about this tardigrade is that I could see through it's skin and could see that it's hemolymph didn't appear to be circulating after I took it out of the refrigerator. That's why I thought it was dead. I felt kind of bad until it started flowing again under the microscope's light. You could see everything that was happening inside its body. It was totally weird. I cracked open a beer and watched it all evening. I felt so close to it at the end that I put it back out in the environment instead of washing it down the sink like I did with all the other slides I had made. They are such cool little beings!

[stevenbaumann]

I know all about the water bears! I love them! I actually look for them in moss. They are so cute and epic! Their genetics is fascinating.

[jerichocarena]

I’m here because tardigrades are the focus of my Research Focus Box (RFB) concentrating on their unique antimicrobial recognition and signalling pathways with comparison among ecydsozoans. In simpler terms, it is all about their unique immune response. This feature is highly uncharacterized and not well-studied in case of tardigrades. Yes we know they can survive extreme temperatures, extreme pressures, and immense amount of cosmic radiation, but about their immune response? Well, that’s what I’m going to find out. It’s a very interesting topic since my reference research article is the first study that delves into this topic. Wish me luck and hope I get an excellent mark. Here’s to more learning about this wonderful tiny creatures!

[searchbeautyhawaii]

I first learned about water bears in my Master Gardeners course in the chapter on soils. I've loved them ever since. My dream is to see them under a microscope with my own eyes. However, nothing beats an electron microscope picture of them!

[imacommentj]

the bottom of the ocean nothing put them in space nothing i get the feeling you could kick them into the sun and the sun would just explode i love these little guys have ever since i was little i found one under a microscope when i was about 10 made my month great video as always

[ahmetkerem]

Yes, yes I know tardigrates. They are lovely creatures. And I love them.

[Miimu]

Tardigrades are my friends. They talk to me sometimes.

[mrmister]

With a name like “Tartigrade” I’d expect nothing less than being that cool

[edwardblomstrand]

What are Tardigrades? They’re badasses, that’s what they are:)

[Crocusx]

With their little baby Tardigrade like voices.

[hugheszie]

Sun goes supernova... They be like “yeah what ever mate” and carry on.

[andysartz]

I LOVED this video! I'm an English teacher here in Brazil and my students and I just read a text about tardigrades. They're so interesting! I'm going to show this video to the kids in the next class. Thanks a lot for sharing! Love BBC. =)

[dragonofepics]

I think they also thawed out some tardigrades that were frozen for 30 years and they just woke right back up and even reproduced successfully.

[Crocusx]

Tardigrades are plotting their revenge.

[devttyUSB]

After seeing this, somewhat scary, video... I'll just carry on... Like nothing happened. ;)
Thanks!

[HayilCrowz]

So all we really need to do is invent micro cameras
Install them onto tardigrades and then we could explore more of the ocean

[karismakooma]

Are tardigrades the first lifeform to ever evolve on earth? Could the tardigrade be billions of years old???😱 sure seems like it! Must know more about them! Love these little things! Still cant believe family guy did an episode recently which featured these little guys! Hilariously fascinating!

[onesensitivedick]

Is there any audio recordings that Tardigrades emit?

[fredericksemple]

I've read about tardigrades before I saw this. In BBC Wildlife magazine of course! Inheritors of Earth after the Sixth Extinction is how I'd describe them.