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"Water Bears" First Animals to Survive Trip Into Space Naked
Adam Korbitz writes "New Scientist and Science Daily are reporting the results of an intriguing experiment in which scientists launched tardigrades or 'water bears' — tiny invertebrates about one millimeter long — into space onboard the European Space Agency's FOTON-M3 spacecraft. After 10 days in the vacuum of space, the satellite returned to Earth and the tardigrades were recovered. The tardigrades survived the vacuum just fine, but exposure to the Sun's ultraviolet radiation proved deadly for most of the water bears. However, some did survive. The tardigrades are the first animals to have survived such an experiment, a feat previously achieved only by lichens and bacteria."
The next animals to undergo the experiment: First Posters.
Of the four water bears to survive the radiation in space, one is now invisible, one is really stretchy, one is on fire, and one is made of rocks.
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Don't you realize that, by exposing them to such strenuous conditions that kill off the weak, you are only working to select a superbreed of tardigrades? I'm sure all that radiation have caused mutations to make them stronger, bigger, with voracious appetites and mind-control powers.
Pretty soon they'll be strong enough to challenge us! I say we launch a preemptive strike to eliminate all tardigrades immediately!
[I'm not actually crazy, this is all tongue-in-cheek alarmism, which is all the rage these days]
Let's start launching bits of debris with Water Bears on them. Hopefully at least one will make it to a planet suitable for life.
Allow these water bears to reproduce, and take them back up. Rinse lather repeat, and we will have creatures capable of surviving long durations in space.
See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
Aquatic hairy gay men?
Over the generations gradually change their environment till it resembles mars. Send the survivors as first colonists.
Deleted
So, it finally comes out, the water bear is best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts9geuPWQvs
How do they taste?
I for one welcome our new vacuum-resistant, microscopic, mutated overlords.
The headline should really read "Tardigrades First Animals to Survive Exposure to Vacuum of Space". I mean, we've sent astronauts into orbit, and let them walk around, but usually not naked.
After RTFA /shock, the focus seems to be not on the fact they survived in space but more the fact that they survived being dosed repeteadly with huge amounts of radiation, without any apparent damage to the DNA structure.
They were all safely inside spacecraft that provided an atmosphere and radiation shielding. The waterbears actually survived in space.
There. I added "Naked" to the headline; "Unprotected" wouldn't fit.
Good call :)
Cheers,
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
Sending bears into space, exposing them to radiation, making them stronger?!?! ARE YOU INSANE?!?!?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
It was a scary bear.
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
This topic uses a poor choice of source material to discuss the subject. The article does not go into detail about the metabolic affects of exposure for the water bears, or the fundamental changes that were observed after their return to the lab. There were significant fundamental reactions the sample set had to exposure to space which was observable immediately upon their return to Earth, as detailed in other articles on the subject.
Scientists were surprised to observe the exterior of several of the water bears to be covered by a mineral substance and the creatures appeared to demonstrate increased resillence realitive to their size and mass. Several of the other specimens demonstrated exothermic reactions when exposed to air, a reaction that was described as actually burning the air around them. Other members of the specimen set were observed stretching to lengths beyond their normal length / width, in order of several magnigtudes, without any negative biological affects. Others developed a transparent biology when observed under an electron microscope, which appearently is not permanent in nature.
Attempts to observe the creatures in detail were complicated by some sort of field irradiating the slide, which was thought to possibly be magnetic.
M
...to survive the vacuum of space.
A bit different, wouldn't you agree?
I propose they try it with lawyers next. I can provide a short list if they want.
What if American space program would have employed not only Dr. Wernher von Braun, but also Dr. Mengele, who then would be the first vertebrate sent to space?
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
Shouldn't scientists be a bit more creative when making space monsters?
RTFA?
America, Home of the Brave.
I for one am upset and disappointed that the water bears did not gruesomely bulge to engorged proportions and then loudly(physics be damned) and spectacularly explode in a sanguineous shower of viscera, all while screaming "QUAAAIDD!!!". I think the experimenters could have done better.
May the Maths Be with you!
I find it detestable that we are doing these kinds of experiments on water bears!
We need to protest... I will start a campaign!
--Nuke the Whales--
I smell PETA actions heading NASA way. More news at 11.
Given the 0.5mm length of a water bear, and assuming it's square...it works out to 3.5 J per organism.
That is, 1 kg mass moving at a velocity in excess of 2 m/sec. Imagine how many ants and croaches this can crush.
Amazing.
PETA? Aren't you supposed to prevent this? If we allow this kind of testing to continue, we will have billions of water bears dying for no reason.
I suggest you protect them just as you have protected stray dogs and cats.
The tardigrades are the first animals to have survived such an experiment, a feat previously achieved only by lichens and bacteria.
Don't forget about Luxans.
--fatboy
Suggested list of headlines that do not suck:
"Tardigrades First Animals to Survive the Vacuum of Space"
"'Water Bears" First Animals to Withstand Exposure to Naked Space"
"First Animal to Survive the Vacuum of Space"
Come on, Timothy -- Naked tardigrades? I trust you can do better than that...
Usually eh? So it has happened in the past?
I'm not sure if I want to see this experiment run with spammers or with attractive members of the opposite sex (or same sex for some of you). On the one hand, the most likely result, the subject would end up dead, in which case, spammers are expendable. But on the other hand, a naked hot woman in space would be kind of sexy if she were to survive, but I see this as the less likely of the options.
So perhaps we can send up a hot spammer naked?
My other sig is just as lame
Just perfect. Again science, devoid of morality, irresponsibly exposes us all to unknown and possibly fatal dangers in its maniac quest to unearth that which man is not meant to know.
Our planet is 75% water so the Davrosian madmen send water bears into space to freely mutate into hideous Lovecraftian nightmares! What next? Sewer gators? Cactus spiders? Sand panthers?? Where does it end?? How long before the entire ecosystem of our planet has its entire precious essence sucked dry???
We must stop these hellish experiments before it is too late for us all!!
First you think it's OK to kill polar bears with your global warming! You've destroyed their habitat and now you want to make them stressed out by putting up oil rigs! We had to go so far as to make faked pictures about drowinging polar bears and such. We even had Al do that stupid movie! Now out of spite you take out your venance on the poor innocent water bears! They're so cute and cuddly! My 4 year old has a stuffed water bear, and I had to tell him to keep it close or the evil conservitives will expose it to the vacuum of space and use the deadly UV rays they've invented on it.
Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
Colbert's not gonna be to happy about this. Bears being sent into space just before his DNA? Sounds like a grudge match waiting to happen...
Gigashadow!
My only question is, what else are they throwing out the airlock that is not surviving?
I thought I was just going crazy and my brain has started to filter out the word 'naked'. You must have changed it in the time between me opening the front page and then clicking on the article..
which is totally what she said
In the latest hoax, Man Made Global Warming(TM), we learn that Ursilua nauticus, the polar bear is drowning in large numbers. Despite my bad spelling, these bears not only tend to float...they swim. Which is why their name means "Water Bears" or "Swimming Bears".
The problem comes in where the name has already been used. :)
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
"Seamonkeys"... no?
Did these things
- Create an army of the undead
- Trigger a plague
- Develop intelligence and a taste for human flesh?
All kidding aside, it might reinforce the theory of panspermia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
I am just afraid of scaring those guys with telescopes, if I go 'Naked' in space:)
hilarious
I for one welcome out tardigrades overlords
You're not going read the article, not even the summary, but at least read the fucking headline.
So... Did any of these scientists allow themselves to get bit by any of these radioactive Water Bears?
In space, no one can hear you "KHAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!".
A vacuum pump and a UV lamp are all you need to perform this experiment on Earth... No rockets required. What lame "research".
There was a countdown of animals that had the most extreme survival conditions, and they outperformed cockroaches by quite a bit. They used computer software to show what the equivalent for a human would be under those circumstances, and visualized the radiation with drums of nuclear waste and bombs or something. Not only can they survive no pressure in the vacuum of space, but they can survive under thousands of pounds of water pressure in the ocean.
One scientist had left a tardigrade in a miniature desert for 20 years, and it popped right back up when they just added water. They also can survive extreme heat, salt, and acid. The most amazing thing is that they can probably be found in your own backyard.
So if we could figure out what keeps them (relatively) impervious to ultraviolet/gamma radiation and allows them to survive direct exposure to vacuum, can we genetically engineer humans like that? Wouldn't space travel be a lot easier, safer and just plain more fun if all you needed was a face mask to breathe and maybe some sort of thin thermal suit?
It probably won't be too difficult in a few decades to genetically engineer people like that, adding the ability to go into hibernation and, being able to freeze them without ice crystals forming in their blood/tissues (like some antarctic fish) would make long interplanetary/interstellar journeys practical. They probably wouldn't be able to breed with the "old-style" humans but it would sure help spread "human-like" life around. "Homo-Astra" (star man). What ethical dilemmas do you see?
One problem might be if there ever was a war, it might be one of complete annihilation since even females would be worthless to the other side (very UN P.C. I know). And we'd probably lose.
Because if the water bears posted using mind control, we are already screwed. Well, I for one, welcome the new water bear overlords.
Stephen Colbert puts water bears as #1 on his threat down. How could he not?
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
Nevermind...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
And the number one threat? WATER BEARS.
Interestingly, the RIAA was also a popular choice, but it was rejected on the basis that a multi-celled organism without a heart might not be alive. Some members of the public suggested it should be subjected to the "will it blend?" test to make sure.
Question: Which bears are best?
Reply: Water bears?
Answer: False. The answer is black bears...
Obligatory:
Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect were the first and they were not even in a dormant state.
Undetectable Steganography? Yep, there's an app fo
In this exciting episode, we see what happened when the tardigrades were first launched and released upon the universe. Queen Tardigrade's loyal bodyguards of course were the hardiest specimens of tardigradehood and protected her well...
Since these creatures are too small to have a brain, shouldn't they be called Retardigrades?
Not that I'm interested in doing this yet because I'd like to see what is already on the planets in our solar system....however
If they could last long enough in space, we could launch them at planets with the purpose of converting the planets to something more habitable.
I think the really good targets for this would be planets with water...Mars...some of Jupiter's moons....etc.
"Only one thing, is impossible for god: to find any sense in any copyright law on the planet." Mark Twain
"I mean, we've sent astronauts into orbit, and let them walk around, but usually not naked."
Homer dumped two neked bodies into space.
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
We have for sure left viable life forms on the Moon, and have now shown reasonably complex animal life can be survive vaccuum.
Before we continue to jizz terrestrial organisms over everything in sight like a fustrated teenager, perhaps we ought to consider the implications. If there is life elsewhere in the solar system, it is likely microbial life living underneath the surface of somewhere like Mars or Europe where there might be liquid water.
Given that these extraterrestrial ecosystems are physically smaller and almost certainly have less energy to drive them, the organisms found there will probably be less primitive. If they encountered any of the microscopic monsters that 4 billion years of Earth evolution has produced they probably won't survive.
If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we shoot people for Apollo-related non-sequiturs?
Here is New Zealand many introduced species (like the Australian Brush Tail Possum) do very, very well. Many introduced birds do far better than the native birds too.
No doubt some of this is due to the fact than most introduced birds are more "street wise" and aggressive, as well as breeding faster, to survive in environments with more predators. They soon displace NZ birds which are tuned to very few predators, are far too trusting and breed far more slowly.
Similarly, by being able to survive in harsher environments, the mutant water bears could survive more marginal conditions, giving them an edge on other water bugs.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
For all of you who don't know Mal Webb, a fabulous musician:
Waterbear song
is a history of all the evolutionary changes that finally end up with current stage homo-sap
we can 'breathe' underwater at certain stages of development-- they just now end before we reach independence from the host/parent.
every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
Space dwelling Water Bears!
If they'd used cockroaches they not only would increased in number after 10 days they might have kicked the
astronauts out when they got back to the spacecraft.
They're aquatic marauding, godless killing machines!
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Does it strike as disturbing anyone else that these little vertebrates closely resemble the giant flying crustacean gunships used by the Combine in Half-Life 2?
We just may have found a good basis for organic spacecraft. That's a creepy thought. I always kind of assumed that particular element of sci-fi would never be borne out.
Chuck would totally own the Water Bears in the Space Survival challenge. I bet he wouldn't even tan.
For some reason I refuse to use either spell check or the spacebar properly.
This is all well and good, but will they blend
Ninjas don't carry tic tacs
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/newspamemail.shtm
uce@ftc.gov is no longer in service. The above link describes the new email address, spam@uce.gov
Before you blast me for telling you about this new development, take a look at the date on the announcement (July 28, 2004).
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
you're not so tough.
Welcome our new naked, space surviving water bear overlords!
I think you are very wrong indeed, if you create vacuum, bathe it with UV light and bombard it with high energy particles you would find it very hard to put a petri dish in that spot.
Personally, I would put the petri dish in first, then turn on the vacuum and radiation, saves you having to request yet another research assistent. You obviously never done paperwork.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I wasn't aware I was using a sig! I'll look into it- thanks.
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
...otherwise in a few months someone driving the Mars rover is going to crap themselves: OMG U GUYZ!!! I FOUND WATER BEARS ON MARS!!!
but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
Dang it, don't call them "tardigrades". That's demeaning and hurtful. The appropriate term is "mentally challengedigrades" or perhaps "differently abledigrades".
--riney
How did they skip the creature, tribal and civilization phases?!??!
All yuor tardigrades are belong to us!
You're going to elect Bizarro Jimmy Carter this fall, then be sick of him in two years and elect another Reagan.
This is the most misleading name since Sea-Monkeys. I was well disappointed when saw the picture.
What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
I'll take the guy who's less likely to crumble into a pile of dust
Hey, some folks are counting on that!
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
-5, disgusting.
thegodmovie.com - watch it
So perhaps we can send up a hot spammer naked?
Or a hot brain-dead politician?
thegodmovie.com - watch it
I for one welcome our new water bear overlords...
Really? Nobody has brought up Sea Monkeys yet?
Surely I am not the only one with this in mind...
These tardigrades, along with lichen and bacteria, are known to be able to survive space. We take them and colonize many small satellites and launch them all up in the belly of a spaceship. Once it is free of Earth's gravity, shoot them all out across the universe.
Think of it as a giant wad of planet spooge, impregnating the universe with terran life. Who knows how that could impact the next several trillion years out there in the big wide open.
Heck, why stop with simpler forms of life. We could shoot up tiny balls filled with water or soil and other extremely long lived, extremely hardy organisms. If they ever crash in another environment with tolerable conditions, they can go forth from there.
Is it geocentric of me to revel in the idea of spreading our own form of life throughout the universe, with no regard for what else is out there? If we assume that ET life is fairly rare or nonexistant, wouldn't it be neat to bump the odds up in life's favor?
maybe you've just been playing too much spore...
There's a song about everything, even tardigrades.
Mal Webb is an Australian singer... well, he makes noises with his body, I guess you could call it singing.
Haven't you ever heard of Doomsday?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Thats it. That is all I wanted to say.
Didn't have the chance to use those two words together since Space Quest V.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens