What makes tardigrades so tough? | Science News

Tardigrades can withstand X-rays, freezing and vacuum. Now researchers are learning how they do it, with an eye toward human space travel.

By Douglas Fox July 13, 2022 at 7:00 am - More than 2 years ago Share this: Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print No beast on Earth is tougher than the tiny tardigrade. It can survive being frozen at -272° Celsius, being exposed to the vacuum of outer space and even being blasted with 500 times the dose of X-rays that would kill a human. In other words, the creature can endure conditions that don’t even exist on Earth. Th

related reading

• The tardigrade in the ice hole: how extreme life finds a way in the Arctic | Biology | The Guardiantheguardian.com
• Could Microbes Survive a Trip to Mars? We Asked a NASA Scientist: Episode 1 - NASAnasa.gov
• The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge’s Glass Skeleton | Quanta Magazinequantamagazine.org
• The Four Pillars: A Hypothesis for Countering Catastrophic Biological Riskdefensesindepth.bio
• Underrated reasons to be thankfuldynomight.net
• Brain Freeze—Asteriskasteriskmag.com
• Inside Deep Undersea Rocks, Life Thrives Without the Sun | Quanta Magazinequantamagazine.org
• All the microbes you can’t have - Works in Progress Magazineworksinprogress.co
• Why Do Animals Keep Evolving into Crabs? | Scientific Americanscientificamerican.com
• How to make a microbe for Mars, one step at a timepioneerlabs.substack.com
• Could the Cordyceps Fungus Really Take Over?youtube.com
• Our Warming Planet Is a Petri Dish for New and Deadly Microbes | The New Yorkernewyorker.com