The Boy in the Submarine – episode 4: Tardigrades

Tardigrades are a microscopic animal: one of the world’s smallest predators, they hunt for germs! But the really cool thing about Tardigrades is that they are nearly indestructible and live incredibly long lives!

Public Domain Image from Rebekah Smith, Edited by Brian C. Rideout

Tardigrades live an extremely long time, and right now scientists are studying them in part because they have proteins in their body that might stop or slow aging. They are unbelievably tough, they live on frozen mountaintops, or deep in lava tubes at the crushing bottom of the sea, and can be found almost everywhere on Earth. When life gets to dangerous they can go into suspended animation and wait until they are in water at a safe temperature and cleanliness to wake back up.

We have even sent tardigrades into space to see just what they can survive. Including exposure to life outside a spaceship! They are THAT tough! We are hoping that will lead to knowledge to help us travel into deep space ourselves. (Here’s a great article that came out after I recorded this episode!)