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Ben is a scientist. 

James is an explorer. On his travels James's 

encountered a person who told him of a 

microscopic organism called a Tardigrade. 

Today he came to see Ben and find out what 

they are. 

     "What is a tardigrade?," James asks Ben.

"Tardigrades, also nicknamed water bears or 

moss piglets, are a phylum of small 

invertebrates. There are over 1000 different 

species of Tardigrades with more species being 

discovered every year," answers Ben.

"But, there is much more to these little 

organisms then meets the eye," Ben continues 

on. 

"These odd animals are small (o.5mm- 

1.2mm) bilaterally symmetrical, plump, 

segmented organisms. Tardigrades have four 

legs each of which has four- eight claws," says 

Ben as he describes what they look like.  

    "Yes they are microscopic James. This

     means that they can only be seen with a   

     microscope," Replies Ben. 

"Well, I suppose it is helpful to know what they 

look like but I heard someone say that you can 

find them all over the world. Is that true. If so 

how do you find them?," asks James of Ben. 

"To find Tardigrades collect a clump of moss and put it in a 

shallow dish. Soak it in distilled or rain water for 3- 24 hours. 

After this you discard the excess water and shake/ squeeze 

over another transparent dish to remove the trapped water. 

Put moss on a slide and observe under a microscope to see the 

Tardigrades," replies Ben. 

"WOW!," says James, surprised, "But how can they possibly 

withstand all of the different habitats?,"

"Tardigrades can survive many things," replies Ben 

mischievously.

"Like what?," asks James, oblivious. 

"Well...," starts Ben, excited.  

"Tardigrades can survive

Temperatures as low as -200 °C (-328 °F) and as high as 

151 °C (304 °F);

Freezing and/or thawing processes;

Changes in salinity; 

Lack of oxygen;

Lack of water;

Levels of X-ray radiation 1000x the lethal dose for an fully 

grown, adult, male elephant;

Some noxious chemicals;

Boiling alcohol;

Low pressure of a vacuum;

High pressure (up to 6x the pressure of the deepest part 

of the ocean)

and..."

"Yes, In 2007 NASA put a bunch of Tardigrades on 

a spaceship then released them into space where 

they survived for 10 days. When they were brought 

back to earth the were unfazed by their trip. The 

European Space Agency sent some Tardigrades into 

space for a program called Tardigrades in Space or 

Tard.I.S. for short. This happened in 2008. That is 

how we know they can withstand space," says Ben. 

"WOW!," says James, "But, how are they able to 

survive all that?"

"Tardigrades have a scientific superpower," replies 

Ben. 

"Well, don't leave me hanging!," say James, almost 

jumping up and down. 

The process by which they survive is called 

cryptobiosis. It is officially defined as when function 

in the body comes to a standstill. They are a few 

different types the most common being cryobiosis, 

low temperatures,...

"So you see," says Ben, "Tardigrades are very 

tough animals."

"It appears so. But is they are so invincible can 

they ever die? What animals kill them?" asks 

James, once again. 

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