Swedish scientists say water bears - tardigrades - have become the first animals to have survived exposure to the vacuum and radiation of space.Water bears multi-cellular, invertebrate animals about 1 millimeter in size - are unique in that they can survive repeated dehydration and can lose nearly all the water they have in their bodies.
It's been nearly a year since Kristianstad University researcher Ingemar Jonsson sent some 3,000 microscopic water bears on a 12-day space trip. The aim of the project, supported by the European Space Agency, was to determine whether they could survive in space. They could. Their finding is that the space vacuum, which entails extreme dehydration, and cosmic radiation, (was not) a problem for water bears. On the other hand, the ultraviolet radiation in space is harmful to water bears, although a few individuals can even survive that, The next challenge is to determine the mechanisms behind water bears' exceptional tolerance.
Less than 300 microns long, water bears have four pairs of stumpy legs with tiny claws and a slow lumbering gait that makes them look like a microscopic bear (see video below). They can survive such extremes as hot springs, mountain peaks, being buried under 5 meters of solid ice, and even frozen in liquid nitrogen. But their most typical homes are moss cushions. If dehydrated, they have devised an interesting "antibiotic state" to survive. The water bear becomes inactive, almost like hibernation. Then, with a tiny droplet of water, it comes back to life. Sometimes, water bears can be in an antiobiotic state for several years.
KINGDOM Animal
PHYLUM Tardigrada
CLASS Heterotardigrada
ORDER Echiniscoidea
FAMILY Echiniscidae
GENUS Echiniscis
SPECIES Echiniscis (over 100 species)
COURTESY-http://www.solutionassoc.com/Fun/Fun.html
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