How Does the Tiny Waterbear Survive In Outer Space?

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How Does the Tiny Waterbear Survive In Outer Space?

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 11, 2012 @10:46AM from the must-be-their-tiny-space-program dept.

DevotedSkeptic sends this excerpt from SmithsonianMag: "The humble tardigrade, also known as a 'waterbear' or 'moss piglet,' is an aquatic eight-legged animal that typically grows no longer than one millimeter in length. Most tardigrades (there are more than 1,000 identified species) have a fairly humdrum existence, living out their days on a moist piece of moss or in the sediment at the bottom of a lake and feeding on bacteria or plant life. In 2007, a group of European researchers pushed the resilience of this extraordinary animal even further, exposing a sample of dehydrated tardigrades to the vacuum and solar radiation of outer space for 10 full days. When the specimens were returned to earth and rehydrated, 68 percent of those that were shielded from the radiation survived, and even a handful of those with no radiation protection came back to life and produced viable offspring. How do the little tardigrades survive such a harsh environment? Although amateur tardigrade enthusiast Mike Shaw recently made waves by postulating that the animals may be equipped to survive in outer space because they originally came from other planets, scientists are certain that the creatures developed their uncommon toughness here on earth."

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Re:9.11.2000 Never Forget by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 10:52 · Score: 3, Funny

You got the date wrong, it was 2002!
Re:9.11.2000 Never Forget by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 10:55 · Score: 1

RIP Anonymous Cowards - our days are numbered!
How does the water bear survive in space? by 2.7182 · 2012-09-11 10:55 · Score: 0

It is FROM space.
Ummm.. by MightyMartian · 2012-09-11 10:59 · Score: 1, Troll

Shouldn't "amateur tardigrade enthusiast Mike Shaw" read "complete fucking moron Mike Shaw"?

--
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
1. Re:Ummm.. by Russ1642 · 2012-09-11 11:01 · Score: 2
  
  He must be related to Egon Spengler, who collects spores, moulds, and fungus.
2. Re:Ummm.. by j00r0m4nc3r · 2012-09-11 11:19 · Score: 1
  
  why moron? it's not that far-fetched to postulate that some creatures here may have come from elsewhere..
3. Re:Ummm.. by Kittenman · 2012-09-11 11:40 · Score: 2
  
  why moron? it's not that far-fetched to postulate that some creatures here may have come from elsewhere..
  Actually it is. I'm not a biologist (INAB?) but I think all species down here on Terra all interrelate in some way. We all have RNA/DNA, etc etc. No, I don't know enough to know what I'm talking about with authority, but our species are all adapted to our planet.
  
  It's not impossible that
  a) an outer-space species could exist
  b) it would get here
  c) it could live and thrive here
  - but it is far-fetched.
  
  --
  "The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
4. Re:Ummm.. by Intropy · 2012-09-11 12:11 · Score: 2
  
  Just those three stipulations alone don't make it that far fetched. Exogenesis, the hypothesis that all life on Earth originally comes from somewhere else, is legitimate. What would make the claim far-fetched is adding:
  d) it would appear so similar to other life on Earth that biologists with morphological and molecular studies think they can place roughly where it fits in the phylogeny of all other life on Earth
  e) it does not decend from the same root species as every other known species on Earth
5. Re:Ummm.. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  It is astronomically improbable that any animals / mini-bears / life known on Earth comes from somewhere else, unless we all were descended from some very early off-Earth starter version all life on earth some 1.5 Billion years or so ago when Earth atmosphere chemistry started changing. Like the Drake equation (but with much larger numbers), all life on this planet uses left handed DNA (%50), right handed sugar chemistry (%50), 4 nucleotides (AGCT - %??) encoding triplets (%??) (64 of them) that code for just 20 amino acids (1.5x10^84 possible lineups times the 20 out of thousands of possible amino acids which is even larger). Given that there are thousands of possible amino acids and these 20 are the ones used for life, and that the RNA codon table is arbitrarily chosen, it's like picking up two completely random shuffled decks of cards and having every card match, then reshuffling and doing that again. We find genetic relatives buried hundreds of feet below the surface in the most remote corners of this world. Add gene similarity across the board and you've got a very strong single origin of life on earth genesis theory.
  I'd venture to guess...
  a) most probably outer-space species do exist.
  b) they are very far away and it would be extremely unlikely that they would accidentally get here.
  c) even more unlikely to survive the trip.
  d) would have a completely different coding base, even in the unlikely event that they shared the same chemistry.
  The only solid proof of alien life IMHO is to find a new viable genetic code base. Slightly different chemistry or hardiness to extreme environments isn't enough.
6. Re:Ummm.. by cpu6502 · 2012-09-11 12:30 · Score: 1
  
  Unless the species originally evolved on Mars when it was still a wet world, and then was ejected by meteorite impact to this world. Even NASA has postulated the possibility.
  
  --
  My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
7. Re:Ummm.. by LurkerXXX · 2012-09-11 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  But the fact that most of the species are killed with only 10 days exposure to space radiation makes it very, very, very unlikely.
  10 days is a uselessly small exposure time when thinking of the amount of time needed to travel the vast distances between stars.
8. Re:Ummm.. by Hatta · 2012-09-11 12:52 · Score: 2
  
  It's extremely far fetched to hypothesize that any life form that shares our genetic code does not share a common ancestor with us.
  
  --
  Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
9. Re:Ummm.. by Intropy · 2012-09-11 13:12 · Score: 1
  
  For those specific species yes, it would seem incredibly unlikely they caught a ride on an asteroid or somesuch. But for an ancestor a few hundred billion generations back? Who knows?
10. Re:Ummm.. by slowLearner · 2012-09-11 14:02 · Score: 2
  
  So it had to survive a catastrophic event that threw it on a piece of rock out of the atmosphere of Mars into an orbit that brought it to Earth within the allotted number of days for it to survive and then survive entry into the Earth's atmosphere, which no matter how you spin it would involve the subject going from very,very cold to very, very hot, very, very quickly. To survive all that and land some place where there is food and beside a mate.
  I really think it would need an infinite improbability drive to do all that.
11. Re:Ummm.. by TapeCutter · 2012-09-11 16:51 · Score: 2
  
  Even NASA has postulated the possibility....
  ...of single celled organisims hitching a ride from Mars to Earth. We are talking about a complex multi-celled creature here, it's a very different proposition. I find the whole "panspermia" argument pointless, the Earth is made of the same stuff the rest of the solar system is made of, sure organic chemicals, large chunks of ice and maybe even single celled creatures rained down on the early Earth from space, that stuff just made the Earth a bit bigger, it was fundementally no different to the existing material. I think it comes from the idea that life is incredibly unlikely and only started in one place at one time, modern evidence says that notion is just a sciencey rebadging of the genesis myth.
  
  --
  And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
12. Re:Ummm.. by Havenwar · 2012-09-11 17:10 · Score: 2
  
  True. Bet's let's simplify that for you by reducing it to opposing hypothesis:
  Your hypothesis is that an alien species incredibly hardy travelled through space to land on earth, managed to survive by competing with the existing lifeforms, but somehow slowly devolved into a microscopic eight legged bear.
  Assumptions made: There is life in space, such life travels, it somehow found this particular tiny speck in the outer parts of the galaxy, it wasn't hardy enough to trump other life on earth, it is similar enough to other life on earth that we can't tell the difference scientifically other than by its hardiness... I'll take a break here, feel free to go on by yourself as an exercise in critical thinking.
  Opposing hypothesis is that somehow a species on earth evolved to be extraordinarily hardy.
  Assumptions made: Evolution is real.
  Now, let's apply Occam's razor here, and cut away the hypothesis that makes the most assumptions. What's left? Sanity!
  Oh, and as a bonus point, personally I'd make the assumption that tiny eight legged bears that scientists finds fascinating enough to pay to bring to fucking space for experiments have probably been researched quite a lot in every other possible way, and found to be quite in line with current understanding of what a terrestrial being is.
13. Re:Ummm.. by Spaseboy · 2012-09-11 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  Ugh! Why do you keep insisting that the Earth is not the centre of the universe, Copernicus! It has been proven by both God and Science that Everything revolves around God's pinnacle of creation!
  
  --
  "I don't want more choice, I just want nicer things!"
  -Jennifer Saunders as Edina Monsoon
14. Re:Ummm.. by Spaseboy · 2012-09-11 18:44 · Score: 1
  
  Your assumption is that life on Earth is the standard by which to measure all life. There is every bit the possibility that life on Earth is actually incredibly fragile and that the norm is "hardiness"...
  I didn't read the article but you don't think it is possible that a cataclysm destroying a planet could send fragments containing this life form's ancestor hurtling into space? You're acting like it left of its own accord.
  Occam's razor would actually lead one to think that because we have so little knowledge of life on our own planet, we don't have enough data to speculate about life on other planets. That's actually the simplest explanation.
  
  --
  "I don't want more choice, I just want nicer things!"
  -Jennifer Saunders as Edina Monsoon
15. Re:Ummm.. by Havenwar · 2012-09-11 18:48 · Score: 1
  
  Sure. So let's avoid speculating on life on other planets. We know life on our planet exists, that it evolves, and that this particular little critter is on earth, and shares the same biological makeup as other life on the planet.
  So the simplest explanation as you put it, still says we should assume it's terrestrial in origin. Anything else would require more assumptions, and less likely events.
16. Re:Ummm.. by MichaelSmith · 2012-09-11 23:29 · Score: 1
  
  I think all species down here on Terra all interrelate in some way
  Without studying life on other planets we can't rule out the possibility that species there also interrelate with our species.
  
  --
  http://michaelsmith.id.au
17. Re:Ummm.. by interkin3tic · 2012-09-12 03:18 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, and as a bonus point, personally I'd make the assumption that tiny eight legged bears that scientists finds fascinating enough to pay to bring to fucking space for experiments have probably been researched quite a lot in every other possible way, and found to be quite in line with current understanding of what a terrestrial being is
  Not only that, but I've seen talks by labs that do biology research on tardigrades. They're funded by the national institute of health (NIH) like many other basic research programs that use "lower" organisms. The idea is that with these simpler organisms, it's easier to do experiments on them and learn something about their genetics, cell biology, physiology, or evolution that will be applicable to us. If you find a gene and what it does in fruit flies, for example, that might be useful to human health because we're all related, and evolution tends to keep useful basic features. And that does turn out to be the case fairly often. A good number of genes found to be useful to us higher vertebrates have been conserved since before we split off from fruit flies.
  
  If tardigrades are of completely different origins, then there's little point in studying them for that reason: any lessons learned in an alien species, there's no reason why we should share any common features if we didn't have a common ancestor at any point. NIH is going to want millions of dollars back in funding.
18. Re:Ummm.. by MightyMartian · 2012-09-12 04:04 · Score: 1
  
  Because Tardigrades, genetically and morphologically, fall into the twin nested hierarchy of life on Earth; just like bananas, hyenas, humans, etc. If Tardigrades are from space, then everything is from space.
  I'll repeat, the guy is a fucking retard.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
19. Re:Ummm.. by MightyMartian · 2012-09-12 04:05 · Score: 1
  
  It would be like insisting your niece, even after genetic tests shows her affinity to you, is not your niece at all and is in fact not even human.
  
  --
  The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
20. Re:Ummm.. by mcgrew · 2012-09-12 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  Exogenesis, the hypothesis that all life on Earth originally comes from somewhere else, is legitimate.
  Well, the hypothesis that the Area 51 greys are our decendants from ten million years in the future who came back in time is legit, too, but it's even more unlikely.
  First, we have never found evidence of any life at all anywhere but here. Second, the odds of one of these creature's eggs, spores, or whatever landing on a planet that already harbors life is pretty damned remote, considering how empty space is and how far apart everything is. Do you know how long it would take to get to Alpha Proxima at non-relativistic speeds? Voyager has been travelling 36 years and it's not even outside out own solar system yet; it would take millions of years for a free-floating object to get here from our closest star if it came straight at it.
  Legitimate, but very highly unlikely to be correct.
  
  --
  Free Martian Whores!
21. Re:Ummm.. by Intropy · 2012-09-12 08:22 · Score: 1
  
  I'm going to try to ignore the condescending tone and assume you are merely confused and not deliberately building up a straw man to attack.
  
  Your hypothesis is that an alien species incredibly hardy travelled through space to land on earth, managed to survive by competing with the existing lifeforms, but somehow slowly devolved into a microscopic eight legged bear.
  Well, it's not my hypothesis, I merely lend it some credence that you don't. Two mistakes here. First, you are adding the assumption that life already existed on Earth when the alien species arrives. Second, assuming you are using "devolve" to mean something like "the opposite of evolve" then you misunderstand evolution in general. Evolution is a slow process of change in response to selective pressures. There's no end goal towards which organism evolve or away from which they "devolve." There is no unchange, only change.
  
  Assumptions made: There is life in space, such life travels, it somehow found this particular tiny speck in the outer parts of the galaxy...
  So far, so good.
  
  ... it wasn't hardy enough to trump other life on earth, it is similar enough to other life on earth that we can't tell the difference scientifically other than by its hardiness... I'll take a break here, feel free to go on by yourself as an exercise in critical thinking.
  Oops, now you've gone off the rails again. You're assuming other life on Earth to trump. You're further assuming that 2 entirely separate lineages are not able to be determined as such, which I think you'll find in case d above if you care to look.
  
  Opposing hypothesis is that somehow a species on earth evolved to be extraordinarily hardy.
  Assumptions made: Evolution is real.
  Now, let's apply Occam's razor here, and cut away the hypothesis that makes the most assumptions.
  Okay let's do that, but without the bogus additional assumptions you've inserted. For one hypothesis you have:
  -Life emerged from nonlife on Earth.
  For the other you have:
  -Life emerged from nonlife somewhere other than Earth.
  -Some life from somewhere other than Earth survived to travel from where it emerged to Earth.
  Which is more likely? I don't know. There's an awful lot more places that aren't Earth than are Earth, but successfully traveling seems like it would be hard too. Hard to say, which is what makes both hypotheses reasonable.
22. Re:Ummm.. by Havenwar · 2012-09-12 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  Okay, you definitely got me on misuse of vocabulary with devolving, my bad. I won't bother making excuses for that, that's on me.
  However much of your current argument falls entirely on the fact that the premise was that these critters in specific were not originated on earth. Not that all life on earth came from outside or not, that I agree entirely is a non-conclusive and bla bla, but it's a completely different argument. The argument made was that the hardiness of these critters indicated that they (or as you put it an ancestor of theirs) came to the planet through space.
  I feel I've made quite a strong argument for why that's not a theory to lend any credence to.
23. Re:Ummm.. by Intropy · 2012-09-12 08:51 · Score: 1
  
  Fair enough, but that wasn't the argument I was making. And the post way up in this thread was where I was explaining what makes Shaw's hypothesis silly whereas the general hypothesis of exogenesis is not.
  Specifically
  
  a) an outer-space species could exist
  b) it would get here
  c) it could live and thrive here
  Isn't all that unlikely given current data. What is unlikely is a, b, c, plus
  
  d) it would appear so similar to other life on Earth that biologists with morphological and molecular studies think they can place roughly where it fits in the phylogeny of all other life on Earth
  e) it does not decend from the same root species as every other known species on Earth
24. Re:Ummm.. by Havenwar · 2012-09-12 08:57 · Score: 1
  
  Fair point, a case of misunderstanding. Next time, you try to make clear when you decide to change what you're arguing about in the middle of a thread, and I promise I'll try to double check so I don't miss it.
Because by Brainman+Khan · 2012-09-11 11:01 · Score: 2

It has Electrolytes
Isn't it obvious? by Attack+Parakeet · 2012-09-11 11:02 · Score: 2

They're related to the TARDIS.
Eight-legged bear. by Arancaytar · 2012-09-11 11:07 · Score: 2

Yuh-huh.
1. Re:Eight-legged bear. by sconeu · 2012-09-11 11:31 · Score: 1
  
  Sounds almost like a ManBearPig to me.
  
  --
  General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Sounds like my mother-in-law. by stevegee58 · 2012-09-11 11:18 · Score: 5, Funny

I meant that in a nice way.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:23 · Score: 0

rtfa
We Hug in Peace? by eldavojohn · 2012-09-11 11:23 · Score: 5, Funny

Although amateur tardigrade enthusiast Mike Shaw recently made waves by postulating that the animals may be equipped to survive in outer space because they originally came from other planets ...

Tardigrade Captain: Okay over there, bring the ship down in that clearing, it looks like there's some specimens there on that asphalt path.
*the Tardigrade craft lands in Time Square and the well armed two meter tall Tardigrades disembark*
Tardigrade Captain: Oh, for the love of Ursa Major! How ugly these specimens turned out! Look at that one!
*the Tardigrade captain gestures toward an Earth female with her jaw agape*
Tardigrade Captain: Ewww, what is this on top of them?
*the Tardigrade captain reaches for the girls hair with his second set of appendages while the first set rubs saliva down his mouth onto his chest and his tertiary set scratches himself*
Tardigrade Officer: *runs a device over the woman* Some sort of fibrous material sir ... apparently dead organic material ...
*the Tardigrade captain withdraws his appendages in terror*
Tardigrade Captain: Oh for fuck's sake, another experiment ruined. Gross. GROSS. All of them just gross as all hell! Alright, everybody back on the ship, you know the drill, take off and nuke 'er from orbit ...
Tardigrade Officer: But ... but sir, this colony may be lacking light speed travel but our sensors show a plethora of cultural phenomena -- aggregates of which exist right here in this very metropolis!
Tardigrade Captain: You know Jerry, it's always something with you, isn't it? 'Mew mew mew, this civilization has eliminated all evil. Blah blah blah this civilization is one million years old, isn't that worth something?' Now this is the 174th failed experiment we've checked up on and I ...
*just then an advertisement for Here Comes Honey Boo Boo blares across the Times Square display -- the stupefied Tardigrades watch*
Tardigrade Officer: I'll push the button this time.

--
My work here is dung.
1. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:42 · Score: 0
  
  Hey I'll push the button if nobody else does ... far as I'm concerned this place needs a RESET ... fast.
2. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:56 · Score: 0
  
  I think it would be a good book idea, and you could get the funding on Kick Starter.
3. Re:We Hug in Peace? by bfwebster · 2012-09-11 12:11 · Score: 1
  
  Funniest thing I've read today. Thanks. :-)
  
  --
  Bruce F. Webster (brucefwebster.com)
4. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 14:10 · Score: 1
  
  I don't watch TV anymore, and watching that reminded me precisely why.
  One thing to keep in mind... think about a person of average intelligence (not talking IQ, just general intelligence) and then realize that if that's the average, half of them are worse than that.
  And next time you post a link to something like that, please include a warning. Something along the lines of NSFB (not safe for brain) would work.
  Disclaimer: Please disregard any spelling or grammatical errors... my brain is still recovering from that experience.
5. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 16:40 · Score: 0
  
  if that's the average, half of them are worse than that.
  Only if the average is equal to the median.
6. Re:We Hug in Peace? by TapeCutter · 2012-09-11 16:58 · Score: 1
  
  You forgot to add in your disclaimer that you are plagerizing George Carlin's jokes.
  
  --
  And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
7. Re:We Hug in Peace? by R3d+M3rcury · 2012-09-11 17:39 · Score: 1
  
  I don't watch TV anymore, and watching that reminded me precisely why.
  Wait. You don't watch TV anymore, but you watched that?
  Why?
8. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 22:42 · Score: 0
  
  The most interesting thing is that the alien Tardigrade Crew speaks English...
9. Re:We Hug in Peace? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 01:19 · Score: 0
  
  You sir deserve an award!
10. Re:We Hug in Peace? by harrkev · 2012-09-12 07:17 · Score: 1
  
  I think that you are mixing up "average" and "median." I suspect that they are close in this case, but I would not be surprised if the median were somewhat below the average.
  
  --
  "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
Water bear? Seriously? by WilliamGeorge · 2012-09-11 11:24 · Score: 2

This brings a new meaning to the old Royal Guardsmen song 'Bears':
[third verse]
While swimming in your pool try not loose your cool
And be drown-ded... by a Water-Bear!
Citation: http://lyrics.wikia.com/The_Royal_Guardsmen:Bears

--
William George
Better Title by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:31 · Score: 3, Interesting

"Scientists believe Water Bears from space have made habitat on earth."
1. Re:Better Title by NatasRevol · 2012-09-11 12:20 · Score: 2
  
  Random dude believes Water Bears from space have made habitat on earth."
  FTFY
  
  --
  There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
2. Re:Better Title by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 04:17 · Score: 0
  
  Random? There's nothing random about these selection of this dude. He was quoted specifically because he's a nutjob saying something sensational. But you're right to correct the other comment. Not one single scientist is quoted as believe waterbears came from space.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:32 · Score: 0

While this does sound funny at first, I find it intriguing. Who knows?
Seems kind of obvious by Lord_of_the_nerf · 2012-09-11 11:40 · Score: 4, Funny

Being dragged out of your home and subjected to solar radiation and a vacuum?
I expect they live only for revenge.
1. Re:Seems kind of obvious by dzfoo · 2012-09-11 11:54 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I hear you. And most worrisome is that we may have endowed them with super powers by exposing them to cosmic radiation in outer space!
  - "What's the status on those wriggly buggers?"
  - "Tardigrades? Well, sir, against all odds and expectations, some of them managed to survive. They're even breeding!"
  - "Really? Even the ones exposed to cosmic radiation?"
  - "Even the ones exposed to cosmic radiation, yes."
  - "Wow! They're even more resilient than we thought!"
  - "You could even say, indestructible..."
  - "Amazing."
  - "Sir, what should we do with them now?"
  - "We bring them back to Earth and watch them breed and see what happens from there...
  - "Aye! Aye! What could possibly go wrong?"
  
  --
  Carol vs. Ghost
  ...Can you save Christmas?
2. Re:Seems kind of obvious by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 14:32 · Score: 0
  
  Their revenge is particularly terrifying because now part of them are invisible, some are bendy, few are fiery and that one poor bastard is rocky.
3. Re:Seems kind of obvious by mapkinase · 2012-09-12 03:04 · Score: 1
  
  Jokes aside, usually God gives His creatures either very good protection (high birth rate - rabbits, mimicry - chameleons, tough exoskeleton - turtles) or very good weapons (speed, claws, teeth, muscles)
  So nothing will possibly go wrong. We will have small tough animals locked up in their ecological niche.
  
  --
  I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
OK, now what? by Third+Position · 2012-09-11 11:45 · Score: 4, Funny

Now that we know they can survive in extreme environments, what do we do with 'em? I suppose they could dump a few payloads of them on Mars or Venus and wait a few million years while evolution takes it's course....

--
American Third Position
Finally, a real choice!
1. Re:OK, now what? by WilyCoder · 2012-09-11 12:25 · Score: 1
  
  Whats this evolution you speak of? Everyone knows that you should pray for god to create life on mars and then it will happen, DUH!
2. Re:OK, now what? by SugokuAtsui · 2012-09-11 16:01 · Score: 1
  
  Zinger, that. If you can't throw spit off the truck, then what's the upside?
  These little buggers will just evolve into a new dietary choice for the Martians, who will then thank us profusely. I mean, right now, they can eat rust, and ... uh... rust. Limited menu. They'll love us. Might even stop them from shooting back at our rover when it does the laser science thing.
  I say, launch 'em!
3. Re:OK, now what? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 21:46 · Score: 0
  
  Sure! We'll see how long it takes them to figure out how to breed while freeze-dried, to eat basalt and iron oxide, to breathe carbon dioxide...
  My guess is: a very very very long time...
4. Re:OK, now what? by harrkev · 2012-09-12 07:21 · Score: 1
  
  Good luck with that. When the tough get going, they hibernate (well, not quite hibernation, but close enough). In order for things to happen, the conditions eventually have to improve. I suspect that they would just hibernate on Mars indefinitely.
  
  --
  "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
Re:9.11.2000 Never Forget by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 11:55 · Score: 0

RIP Anonymous Cowards - our days are numbered!
So there is some small blessing to the complete loss of liberty!
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by icebike · 2012-09-11 12:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

While this does sound funny at first, I find it intriguing. Who knows?
While we probably can't know for certain, we can look around and notice no planet nearby that could have supported life that complex with the possible exception of mars.
Then we can look at the fact that only 68% survived a mere 10 days after being specially treated to do so.
Then we can speculate about the amount of time it might take for a blasted out chunk of mars to find its way to earth. Hundreds of years is my guess. Millions if it came from further.
We can further speculate what percentage would survive the journey and then survive a fiery entry into Earth's atmosphere.
Then we can set aside ALL of that speculation until there is ANY evidence of life on Mars more advanced than an accidental amino acid.
The inescapable preponderance of evidence is that it originated here. And simply because it can survive an odd experiment is no reason to speculate extraterrestrial origin.
Occam, guys, Occam.

--
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2012-09-11 12:02 · Score: 2

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Apologies to Isaac Watts and Lewis Carroll by Waterbearlang · 2012-09-11 12:09 · Score: 3, Informative

How does the tiny Waterbear
Survive in Outer Space
By dehydrating all the while
And wrinkling its face!

How bravely she can abide
Extremes of cold and heat
Take it all in stride so gallantly
With its graceful, nimble feet!

In works of art or science free
And open source, no fool
She teaches children how to code[1]
Because Waterbear is cool.

So cute, so humble, so robust
Waterbear is da boss
But all she really wants from life
Is a comfy home of moss.

[1] Shameless plug: http://waterbearlang.com/
don't forget the song by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:11 · Score: 0

Waterbear by Mal Webb youtube
My God, by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:13 · Score: 0

it's full of tards.
who comes up with this shit? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:16 · Score: 0

seriously, who sits around all day on their scientist wellfare job and comes up with "lets expose this to space and see what happens for a few billion dollars of expense"
jesus, we can create a vacuum and radiation here on earth! besides that, what did we learn, fuck all nothing, and does anyone give a shit ... no.
colonize mars by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:36 · Score: 0

send a shipful of them to mars and let them colonize...
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:38 · Score: 0

"simply because it can survive an odd experiment is reason enough to speculate extraterrestrial origin."
FTFY
And I thought roaches were hard to kill... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:44 · Score: 0

ba-dum ching
It eats tiny watersalmon. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:45 · Score: 0

b'da bing
I thought that was RMS by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 12:49 · Score: 0

spores, molds and fungus collect on him
Classic by AnotherAnonymousUser · 2012-09-11 12:50 · Score: 3, Funny

Dashing and daring
Courageous and caring
Faithful and friendly
With stories to share
Taaaaaardibears!
1. Re:Classic by Tastecicles · 2012-09-11 21:28 · Score: 1
  
  Well played, worthy adversary. Well played.
  
  --
  Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by DeadboltX · 2012-09-11 12:57 · Score: 1

Is it so hard to imagine that these things could have been formed on another planet, or even a non-planetary celestial object such as an asteroid, which then traveled near earth while carrying these critters,before breaking apart causing fragments to land on earth? After thousands of years of life on earth evolution caused them to lose some of their space-rigidity which is why they now only fare a 60% chance of survival. Perhaps their survival has little bearing on the duration of their space travel; it could be like hdd failings, where if an hdd makes it past a certain point in usage then it's probability of premature failure is slim. Thoe 60% that survived may have been able to survive 100 days.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by dr_dank · 2012-09-11 13:00 · Score: 3, Funny

Occam, guys, Occam
Mod +1 for random reference to The Critic.

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Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Wisdom of Crowds by PPH · 2012-09-11 13:25 · Score: 1

In the end, you folks got it right.

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Have gnu, will travel.
Newsflash!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 13:52 · Score: 0

Bugs are rather tough critters....yeah I know the tardigrade isn't a "bug" in the insect sense, but it is a "bug" in the common man's language sense.
1. Re:Newsflash!!!! by Tastecicles · 2012-09-11 21:26 · Score: 1
  
  given its eight-leggedness, I would venture that it's a bug in the arachnid sense.
  
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  Operation Guillotine is in effect.
2. Re:Newsflash!!!! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 01:24 · Score: 0
  
  ...and you would be venturing incorrectly.
Re:9.11.2000 Never Forget by ExploHD · 2012-09-11 14:30 · Score: 1

You got the date wrong, it was 2001
It's obvious. by jd · 2012-09-11 15:04 · Score: 2

A Tardigrade is a retrograde TARDIS and everyone knows that a TARDIS can handle outer space.

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It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
1. Re:It's obvious. by Tablizer · 2012-09-11 19:58 · Score: 1
  
  That was truly reTarded, no grade for you :-)
  
  --
  Table-ized A.I.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by MobileTatsu-NJG · 2012-09-11 15:06 · Score: 2

How do we know that through their evolution they didn't lose their ability to last even longer out there than they do now?

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"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
In best Homer Simpson voice... by MoGrapher · 2012-09-11 15:19 · Score: 1

SpiderBear, SpiderBear. Does whatever a SpiderBear does!
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by icebike · 2012-09-11 15:43 · Score: 1

How do we know humans didn't lose their second head when they hitchhiked here from Betelgeuse?
OCCAM!

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Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by khallow · 2012-09-11 16:24 · Score: 1

Is it so hard to imagine that these things could have been formed on another planet, or even a non-planetary celestial object such as an asteroid, which then traveled near earth while carrying these critters,before breaking apart causing fragments to land on earth?
To the contrary. It's too easy to come up with such theories. It's a bit like getting pregnant. You can do it easily enough, but are you willing to take responsibility for the result?
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by MobileTatsu-NJG · 2012-09-11 16:48 · Score: 1

It's a serious question. Remember how once upon a time we could eat raw meat?

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"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 16:56 · Score: 0

You mean in the same way we still can? There are entire fad diets out there based on cooking being bad for you. The only reason we live better on cooked meat is that it kills parasites and lets us store the food longer without spoiling.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 17:29 · Score: 0

Right, the defenses just aren't there anymore. Weird how you wrote this like it's a rebuttal.
Tardigrade? Oh you and your metric system! by Provocateur · 2012-09-11 18:09 · Score: 1

What's the equivalent in ye olde inches?

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WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
1. Re:Tardigrade? Oh you and your metric system! by hattig · 2012-09-11 20:43 · Score: 1
  
  Tardigrad. There are 2.16 Imperial Tardigrads in a metric Tardigrade.
  Of course there is a disparity between Imperial and US "English" measurements, as there are actually 2.58 English Tardigrads in a metric Tardigrade.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by FireFury03 · 2012-09-11 19:07 · Score: 2

You mean in the same way we still can? There are entire fad diets out there based on cooking being bad for you. The only reason we live better on cooked meat is that it kills parasites and lets us store the food longer without spoiling.
Cooking makes it much much easier for your body to extract energy and nutreants from the food.

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http://blog.nexusuk.org
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 19:18 · Score: 0

Except these creatures have Earth DNA and clearly evolved here.
Radiation in Outer Space? by wadeal · 2012-09-11 19:25 · Score: 1

So let me get this straight... When you put these super resilient creatures in space with no protection from radiation most of them die. But if you send comparatively weak men to the moon where they're exposed to the exact same radiation they all survive and none died soon after from cancer? Makes sense...
1. Re:Radiation in Outer Space? by pne · 2012-09-11 23:04 · Score: 1
  
  So let me get this straight...
  When you put these super resilient creatures in space with no protection from radiation most of them die.
  But if you send comparatively weak men to the moon where they're exposed to the exact same radiation they all survive and none died soon after from cancer?
  Makes sense...
  You missed the bit with "no protection from radiation". The space suit isn't just there to keep air inside it.
  
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  Esli epei etot cumprenan, shris soa Sfaha.
Extreme Dehydration by Taco+Cowboy · 2012-09-11 20:04 · Score: 1

Yes, I did read TFA - both of them
I was interested in the level of "dehydration" those creatures were being put through before were sent to space
TFA #1, from Smithsonian Magazine, only mentioned "dehydration", but it did provide a link to the cell magazine summary, where it is mentioned that the "waterbears" were put through "extreme dehydration"
Hmm....
How extreme is extreme dehydration?
To what I know, all living things, whether it be plants, microbes, animals, had to have H2O inside the cell structures (DNA/RNA) to keep alive
If the cells dried up, the cell walls will crumble, and once the cell walls collapsed, that's it, baby, asta- lavista !
So back to the "extreme dehydration" claim on the cell magazine's summary --- just how "extreme" is the "extreme dehydration" ?
Does it cause permanent cell wall collapse?
I guess, in the case of the "waterbear", the "extreme dehydration" isn't absolute - which means, the "waterbear" may have a built-in valve structure, to lock enough H2O inside its body to keep the body at least at a minimum level (kind of deep hibernation)
But anyway, this findings is a plus for all. If we can find out how the waterbear locks in H2O, maybe we too can modify our human body structure and can survive without water for a prolong period.

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Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
1. Re:Extreme Dehydration by aurispector · 2012-09-11 23:42 · Score: 1
  
  Barking up the wrong tree. Analyze the DNA. If it codes for amino acids the same way as the rest of us the argument is over before it begins.
  
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  I have mod points. The reign of terror begins now.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Tablizer · 2012-09-11 20:05 · Score: 1

Occam, guys, Occam.
Please take something for that cough

--
Table-ized A.I.
Tardigrades have it good by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-11 20:41 · Score: 0

Most tardigrades (there are more than 1,000 identified species) have a fairly humdrum existence, living out their days on a moist piece of moss or in the sediment at the bottom of a lake and feeding on bacteria or plant life.
Most nerds (there are more than 1,000 identified breeds) have a fairly humdrum existence, living out their days in a dark basement or in the sediment at the bottom of a pile of pizza boxes and feeding on mountain dew and cheese-its.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by tbird81 · 2012-09-11 21:20 · Score: 1

It's possible to imagine that. It's also possible to imagine a magical bearded man camed and planted them, and Noah saved them on a boat. It's possible to imagine an alien species with the same sort of DNA as us, and same mitochondria.
It's just one FUCK of a lot more likely that they evolved here on earth!!
made me wonder about these things... by Tastecicles · 2012-09-11 21:25 · Score: 1

...as I was dropping them in liquid nitrogen at college and watching in amazement as they shrugged off the frost and carried on

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by tofarr · 2012-09-12 01:13 · Score: 1

Wouldn't their extra terrestrial origin be evident in their DNA?
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by interkin3tic · 2012-09-12 01:43 · Score: 1

Plus, why would it use the same DNA -->RNA --> codons --> amino acid -->protein scheme and language that the rest of us use?

I can suspend my disbelief for Star Trek etc that all these other alien races would breathe 79% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and some trace CO2, would be humanoid, and could all speak English. When they started talking about aliens having DNA sequences, that was really questionable. But I could ignore it for the episode.

Trying to pretend it's possibly real though for real species and acting like that's real science? Get the fuck out.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by necro81 · 2012-09-12 01:43 · Score: 1
The other major line of evidence that for the water bear evolving here on Earth is that it is structured in a way more or less identical to the rest of Terran life. That is: it has cells, DNA, RNA, all of which have the same chemical structure as the rest of life on Earth. One could hypothesize several things based on this observation:
1. 1) that the structure and chemical mechanisms of life on Earth are the same elsewhere in the universe (or vice versa), including the water bear's extraterrestrial origin. I.e., maybe the way it's done on Earth is the only successful way to structure life.
2. 2) the water bear, or its ancestral brethren not too dissimilar from today, were the source of all life on Earth (panspermia, but with the water bear as the initial seed), or
3. 3) the water bear evolved on Earth, using Earth's template for how to structure and reproduce life. This hypothesis takes no stand one way or the other on extraterrestrial life.
Which of these three is the most plausible, explains the most natural phenomena, and is confounded by the least contradicting evidence? I would argue (3).
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 01:56 · Score: 0

True, but imagine a large chunk of lake bed rock/sediment that was blasted into space by a meteor hitting Mars eons ago. The surface of the lake bed could have been encapsulated by other debris, loosely trapping moisture. While the sun would heat the debris up, enough moisture could have been available throughout the entire trip to sustain microbial life even through re-entry into earth, which at that time the earths atmosphere may have been a lot thinner than todays' atmosphere...
There's a lot of ifs, of course and this is merely a thought, but you never know unless you saw the dawn of life on Earth billions of years ago.
It's just cool to think about sometimes.
pedowaterbear by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 02:25 · Score: 0

I'm never letting my kids in the water again.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by marcosdumay · 2012-09-12 02:35 · Score: 1

It's quite possible that any alien we found out there uses the same sequence of DNA -> RNA -> proteins we use, they may also use the same amino-acids. We use those things because they were available, we probably didn't have much choice.
Now, the semantics of DNA chains will quite certainly change.

--
Rethinking email
I'm late, I'm late by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 02:36 · Score: 0

What are they late for? are they a little slow?
+ 1 reference for winnie the poo nie aliens
Bogus Observation by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 02:44 · Score: 0

It survives in space, IF YOU SHIELD IT FROM RADIATION. In other words, it doesn't survive in space.
"Outer" Space by kraytul · 2012-09-12 03:25 · Score: 1

It bothers me that both wikipedia and now this, apparently directly copying Wikipedia's information, use the term "Outer Space" to refer to Low Earth Orbit. Outer space is a bit different from just space... or at least is usually used as different...
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by interkin3tic · 2012-09-12 03:39 · Score: 2

I don't think so. Even assuming nucleotides are inevitably the preferred way to store genetic information given chemistry, the chances that they'd use the exact same 3 nucleotide to amino acid translation system that nearly everything else on earth uses is probably pretty low.

There's no reason that I can see why ATG would always have to translate into a methionine and the start of translation, for example. If aliens followed the central dogma (DNA--> RNA --> amino acids) there's an equal chance their tRNAs would translate ATG as some other amino acid. The only reason most life on earth uses that same translation system is because the chances of changing which 3 letter code corresponds to which amino acid isn't something that can be changed without having catastrophic effects.
Re:How does the water bear survive in space? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 08:31 · Score: 0

Simply because we haven't yet collected enough data to prove it isn't a viable reason to disregard the possibility of extraterrestrial origin either. That would be like going to court and being ruled guilty of murder because the defense couldn't muster enough evidence to prove you're alibi within 24 hours. Do you decide there's ZERO chance that a girl likes you if she didn't ask you to marry her on the first date? Nothing is certain, man. Without speculations, there would never be anybody doing experiments attempting to prove the unknown. As wikipedia states, "In the scientific method, Occam's razor is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic, and certainly not a scientific result.". So I say, from the proof I have experienced, Mike Shaw has the right idea. Your logic is broken. Waterbear can sruvive in a vacuum a HELL of a lot better than you can, and that means the odds of him being of extraterrestrial origin are a lot higher than you, so maybe if HE posted saying, "Born and Raised in the U.S.A.", I'd believe that. Till that, 'nuff said.
You've got nothing. by Anonymous Coward · 2012-09-12 12:44 · Score: 0

Okay, you're a little concerned about all that ancient aliens/x files crap actually being taken seriously well woop dee doo. You haven't got an argument. This isn't science fiction, it's not religion, astrobiology is a science that is not going anywhere in fact it's a pretty compelling reason to fund nasa.
http://www.astrobio.net/
http://www.astrobiology.com/
http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrobiology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panspermia
Am I stating that panspermia is a fact - no, it's a theory which at this point seems perfectly capable of generating reasonable hypotheses. What if tardigrades didn't come from space? Who cares, we can still throw a bunch of desiccated extremophiles in a two tonne ice ball and drag it around the ISS to see if it's worth lobbing at some other planet thereby applying the theory of Panspermia regardless of whether or not it's a significant origin theory. That's science, and I think it's pretty dang awesome that us little human beings are exploring this stuff.
Captcha: Atheism