Posted on 05/17/2011 11:11:51 AM PDT by ransomnote
In 2007, a little known creature called a tardigrade became the first animal to survive exposure to space.
It prevailed over sub-zero temperatures, unrelenting solar winds and an oxygen-deprived space vacuum.
On Monday, this microscopic cosmonaut has once again hitched a ride into space on the Nasa shuttle Endeavour.
Its mission: to help scientists understand more about how this so-called "hardiest animal on Earth" can survive for short periods off it.
Tardigrades join other microscopic organisms selected to be part of a project into extreme survival. Shuttle Endeavour Endeavour climbs into the sky on Monday
Project Biokis is sponsored by the Italian Space Agency and will investigate the impact of short-duration spaceflight on a number of microscopic organisms.
The project will use seven experiments to investigate how spaceflight affects organisms on a molecular level.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Resembles Hillary.
What happens if the exposure to space radiation turns them into giant space water bears that ravage the planet eating entire continents at a time? Then what?
Don’t these guys get the sci-fi channel? Don’t that know what could happen? Is it really worth the risk?
that’s pretty damn disgusting
Flagged for removal.
Booby trapped hotlink
Godzilla vs WaterBear!!!!
It got pulled and two people are expressing unhappiness with me. I'm truly sorry if I goofed.
Godzilla vs WaterBear!!!!
And don't forget about the zombi water bears!
Your hotlink was booby trapped. Some sites like rotten.com do it routinely.
Okay. Thanks.
Bizarre. It looks like it’s wearing a itty bitty space suit.
“Bizarre. It looks like it’s wearing a itty bitty space suit.”
With a universal vacuum cleaner upholstery hub on its face...
Now...I am going to try to stop hearing a spontaneous ditty about an ‘itty bitty space suit’ playing in my head for the rest of the day.
I don’t care what the study shows. Water bears are threatened with extinction by global warming. That’s settled science and I’m sticking to my story. /s
WaterBear vs SeaMonkeys!!
100 years from now Scientists will create a human/tardigrades hybrid that can withstand the ionising radiation of long space voyages and be put in a state of suspended life for thousands of years. Maybe this is how we can colonize the universe with space craft not able to exceed the speed of light.
Godzilla will stop them, If they land in Japan.
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