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Tardigrades

Perhaps the epitome of the cute-ugly, creepy-cool divide, tardigrades are marvels of nature. The microscopic creatures, also called water bears, are known as much for their pudgy, almost comical, appearances as their ability to survive almost anything thrown there way, from starvation to radiation. When it comes to tardigrades, Live Science leaves no micro-stone unturned. Here's the latest news on all things tardigrades, from recent discoveries, to dissections of their oddities, to breakdowns of various mysteries.

Related Topics: Biodiversity, Amphibians, Life's Little Mysteries

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Tardigrades can enter cryptobiosis to withstand temperature and moisture extremes.

Tardigrades survive being dried out thanks to proteins found in no other animals on Earth

By Stephanie Pappas published 14 September 22

A unique protein found only in tardigrades explains why these tiny animals can dry out completely and survive.

Wee water bears can survive conditions that would be deadly to most other animals.

Tardigrades hitch risky rides inside snail bellies, then escape in their poop

By Mindy Weisberger published 28 April 22

Scientists recently found that tardigrades can travel by snail to reach new destinations that were otherwise beyond their reach.

Tardigrade species Milnesium inceptum used in experiments; insert shows tardigrade in the tun state.

Tardigrades may hitchhike on snails ... and then suffocate in their slime

By Mindy Weisberger published 14 April 22

Can tardigrades travel by snail? New experiments suggest that it's possible — and hazardous.

Here, a colored-scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of a tardigrade, also called a water bear.

Frozen tardigrade becomes first 'quantum entangled' animal in history, researchers claim

By Brandon Specktor published 20 December 21

A new pre-print study claims to have quantum entangled a tardigrade with two superconductor qubits, though experts are skeptical.

Diane Nelson, a tardigrade researcher who works in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, used a scanning microscope to take this 3-D image of a Tardigrade.

Why are tardigrades nearly indestructible?

By Alina Bradford, Mindy Weisberger last updated 7 September 22

Reference Tardigrades, often called water bears or moss piglets, are near-microscopic animals that are almost indestructible and can even survive in outer space.

An artistic reconstruction of the tardigrade species Paradoryphoribius chronocaribbeus in moss

Tardigrade trapped in amber is a never-before-seen species

By Nicoletta Lanese published 5 October 21

The researchers came across the tardigrade while looking for fossilized ants.

A scuttling tardigrade hurries to its next appointment.

Why tiny tardigrades walk like insects 500,000 times their size

By Mindy Weisberger published 1 September 21

Microscopic and near-indestructible tardigrades walk as insects do, scientists recently discovered.

To a tardigrade, our colorful world may be a drab black-and-white.

Tardigrades probably see in black and white

By Mindy Weisberger published 6 August 21

Water bears may lack the proteins necessary for color vision.

Tardigrades are nearly indestructible creatures that have been found in the most inhospitable places on Earth.

These tiny indestructible tardigrades will reveal how to survive in extremes of space

By Elizabeth Howell published 26 June 21

Indestructible tardigrades will be subject to a series of experiments at the International Space Station to reveal how they survive in extreme environments.

Tardigrades can survive being shot out of a high-speed gun

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published 20 May 21

Tardigrades, those adorable, chubby water bears, are notoriously hardy — and they can even survive being shot out of a gun, up to a point.

Paramacrobiotus shows tolerance to UV radiation and exhibits fluorescence under UV light.

Adorable tardigrades fight UV rays with glowing shield

By Mindy Weisberger published 16 October 20

Tough little tardigrades use biofluorescence to resist damage from ultraviolet rays.

A tubby tardigradelike shape appeared in recent images of the sun, captured by the NASA and ESA mission Solar Orbiter.

Tubby 'tardigrade' crawls across sun's surface in spectacular images

By Mindy Weisberger published 16 July 20

New images of the solar surface, the closest ever seen, included a flaw that resembled a tardigrade.

Fluorescent staining shows a tardigrade's full stomach.

'Disco' tardigrade parties under microscope, wins international photo prize

By Mindy Weisberger published 8 April 20

A tardigrade, a mouse brain and a wasp ovary were some of the standout images in a contest celebrating the beauty in the very small.

A protein found only in tardigrades provides cellular DNA with a unique form of protection.

Adorable Tardigrades Have a Surprising, Fatal Weakness

By Stephanie Pappas published 16 January 20

Tiny-but-tough tardigrades aren't as indestructible as previously believed.

'Damage Suppressor' Protein Protects Adorable Tardigrades ... and Human Cells, Too

By Mindy Weisberger published 3 October 19

Scientists deciphered a key ingredient in tardigrades' arsenal of superpowers, learning how a unique protein in microscopic water bears provides protection from harmful radiation.

A chubby tardigrade looms before an image of the moon.

There Are Thousands of Tardigrades on the Moon. Now What?

By Mindy Weisberger published 15 August 19

What might it mean for the moon to have thousands of tardigrades as new inhabitants?

Thousands of Tardigrades Stranded on the Moon After Lunar Lander Crash

By Mindy Weisberger published 6 August 19

When you look up at the moon, there may now be a few thousand water bears looking back at you.

Mysterious, Glowing Tardigrade May Have Swallowed Part of Its Own Mouth

By Brandon Specktor published 17 July 19

It looks like buried treasure, but it might just be pieces of the tardigrade's own mouth.

9 Times Nature Was Totes Adorbs in 2018

By Brandon Specktor published 29 December 18

2018 was rough. You've earned a little cuteness, don't you think?

The Best Gifts for Tardigrade Lovers

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published 29 October 18

Here are some gift ideas for the tardigrade-entranced.