The Planet of the Water Bears ====================

Water Bears, or *Tardigrades*, are objectively one of the most resilient species we know of. These microscopic animals can withstand extreme temperatures, able to survive in any climate between 1º and 420º Kelvin.

*Despite being only about a millimeter long, these guys are still animals, and actually have similar anatomical structures.* Not needing water to survive, these microscopic creatures are able to live in the fiery depths of a volcano, the frozen glaciers on the north pole, the vacuum of space, even in a nuclear wasteland. How can these amazing little critters do these incredible things you ask? As the longest existing species we know of, the Tardigrades have evolved along with our planet from the time when it was nothing more than a barren wasteland. Having genetic roots to ancestors that survived not only the inhabitable environment before the majority of life on Earth, but also to those who survived every mass extinction on the planet. The species has spent hundreds of millions of years evolving and adapting to new environments has shaped them into the biological equivalent of the Nokia 3310. ![](https://67.media.tumblr.com/e2f31e49275c9ee973f31a205e26967f/tumblr_n2ngurdH5K1tsa4gno1_500.gif) All joking aside, Tardigrades have developed seemingly miraculous adaptations, protecting their DNA from radiation damage, allowing their cells to withstand extreme heat and cold, shielding them from the vacuum of space, reproduce asexually yet still introduce new DNA, and do the one thing that we thought to be impossible for any form of life... the Tardigrades can survive without water practically indefinitely. It would not be presumptuous to say that our planet, Earth, is without a doubt, the Planet of the Tardigrades.