Did you know that there is an organism that can survive in most environments? It’s called the water bear. The scientific name is Tardigrade and it means slow walker in Latin. They can survive the coldest antarctic ice, hot springs, deep sea trenches, Himalayan mountain tops and much much more. Water bears are translucent with a hint of taupe-ish brown color. They are 1/16th of an inch long, have eight legs with claws, and a snout. Scientists have proven that water bears can go to space and come back unharmed and reproduce as well in space. Water bears can slow down their metabolism, lose most of their water and curl up into a state called “tun”, when they are dry or salty. Tuns can handle 600 times the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Also tuns can be frozen for more than a year, at 300 degrees below zero. If you add water to a tun it can turn back into a Tardigrade. Tuns have been brought back to life after a century and still look the same as it did before. Water bears are super cool and there is so much to learn about. (By Lolie)
I got my information from this article. Be sure to check it out!
I wonder if water bears were in the pond water that we took organisms out of. Cool blog post ����
ReplyDeleteGood job Lolie. I like the high quality photo of the water bear. I think it is so incredible that a microscopic organism can look like that. This connects to are pond unit because most of the organisms we studied were microscopic as well. I wonder why I have never heard of one before.
ReplyDelete-Ian
That's so cool! I love how you explained what tun was and I never really knew what water bears were like.
ReplyDelete- Maeve
That is so creepy I never knew zombies were real.
ReplyDeleteI think that you did a really good job adding that you can add water to tuns and they'll be tardigrades. So cool!
ReplyDeleteOne question i have is how did scientists prove they could go to space
ReplyDeleteI love your post on water bears! Sooooooo interesting! It looks like you put lots of effort into it.
ReplyDeleteThe blog is super cool! I learned a lot from reading it! I have seen water bears in pictures, but I never really knew anything about them. Great job!
ReplyDeleteCool blog post Lolie! That's so cool! I wonder if we brought any back with us?
ReplyDeleteI like how you choose such an interesting but different than anyone else's topics. I had know idea this even existed. It would be cool to see one in real life.
ReplyDeleteThat is coolest thing I've seen all day. I really liked that out of all the organisms you choice that.
ReplyDeleteWow--this creature is remarkable. I like that you shared your article with us.
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