animal survives boiling, freezing and space!

[The Great Goose]

If you go into outer space without protection, you'll die.

The lack of pressure would force the air in your lungs to rush out. Gases dissolved in your body fluids would expand, pushing the skin apart and forcing it to inflate like a balloon. Your eardrums and capillaries would rupture, and your blood would start to bubble and boil. Even if you survived all that, ionising radiation would rip apart the DNA in your cells. Mercifully, you would be unconscious in 15 seconds.

How do these seemingly insignificant creatures survive in such extreme conditions?

But one group of animals can survive this: tiny creatures called tardigrades about 1mm long. In 2007, thousands of tardigrades were attached to a satellite and blasted into space. After the satellite had returned to Earth, scientists examined them and found that many of them had survived. Some of the females had even laid eggs in space, and the newly-hatched young were healthy.



Tardigrades return from the dead

 

[Alystyr]

VERY creepy critter.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

If you go into outer space without protection, you'll die.

The lack of pressure would force the air in your lungs to rush out. Gases dissolved in your body fluids would expand, pushing the skin apart and forcing it to inflate like a balloon. Your eardrums and capillaries would rupture, and your blood would start to bubble and boil. Even if you survived all that, ionising radiation would rip apart the DNA in your cells. Mercifully, you would be unconscious in 15 seconds.

How do these seemingly insignificant creatures survive in such extreme conditions?

But one group of animals can survive this: tiny creatures called tardigrades about 1mm long. In 2007, thousands of tardigrades were attached to a satellite and blasted into space. After the satellite had returned to Earth, scientists examined them and found that many of them had survived. Some of the females had even laid eggs in space, and the newly-hatched young were healthy.



Tardigrades return from the dead

My question's why would an Earth native and terrestrial animal evolve resistance to space?

Welcome to Earth I'm thinking.

 

[The Great Goose]

If you go into outer space without protection, you'll die.

The lack of pressure would force the air in your lungs to rush out. Gases dissolved in your body fluids would expand, pushing the skin apart and forcing it to inflate like a balloon. Your eardrums and capillaries would rupture, and your blood would start to bubble and boil. Even if you survived all that, ionising radiation would rip apart the DNA in your cells. Mercifully, you would be unconscious in 15 seconds.

How do these seemingly insignificant creatures survive in such extreme conditions?

But one group of animals can survive this: tiny creatures called tardigrades about 1mm long. In 2007, thousands of tardigrades were attached to a satellite and blasted into space. After the satellite had returned to Earth, scientists examined them and found that many of them had survived. Some of the females had even laid eggs in space, and the newly-hatched young were healthy.



Tardigrades return from the dead

My question's why would an Earth native and terrestrial animal evolve resistance to space?

Welcome to Earth I'm thinking.

Yes its certainly wonder invoking. Normally an animal evolves for a specific environment, but this one is just ready for anything.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

From the point of view of "evolution" this creature should not exist

 

[Delta4Embassy]

From the point of view of "evolution" this creature should not exist

Unless it evolved in space. Probably not free-floating like, but on asteroids or comets. Especially if they blew off a planet during formation when asteroids are smacking into it.

During Earth's formation we were hit by countless 'alien asteroids.' Entirely plausible some lifeforms here came from other planets of the solar system where they may have begun in alien enviroments. Also plausible some of those impacters came from outside the solar system.

 

[The Great Goose]

From the point of view of "evolution" this creature should not exist

It demolishes the evolution heresy.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

 

[The Great Goose]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

...thrown by God.

 

[Iceweasel]

Thank God they didn't mutate and start devouring small villages. What a bunch of idiots, eliminate their funding!

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

...thrown by God.

You'd have no problem explaining how and why this creature evolved on Earth, right? What did it evolove from? What evolved from it

 

[The Great Goose]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

...thrown by God.

You'd have no problem explaining how and why this creature evolved on Earth, right? What did it evolove from? What evolved from it

I don't believe in the evolution heresy.

 

[Wry Catcher]

VERY creepy critter.

It may very well be your Great to the millionth power ancestor.

 

[Alystyr]

VERY creepy critter.

It may very well be your Great to the millionth power ancestor.

Not getting into the evolution debate, but it would be interesting to find out just which branch of creatures its DNA most closely resembles.

 

[Wry Catcher]

VERY creepy critter.

It may very well be your Great to the millionth power ancestor.

Not getting into the evolution debate, but it would be interesting to find out just which branch of creatures its DNA most closely resembles.

Evolution Debate? I guess that describes the difference between science and superstition.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

VERY creepy critter.

It may very well be your Great to the millionth power ancestor.

Really? So we must have devolved from such an obviously superior organism

 

[CrusaderFrank]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

...thrown by God.

You'd have no problem explaining how and why this creature evolved on Earth, right? What did it evolove from? What evolved from it

I don't believe in the evolution heresy.

Yeah, I knew that would stump you

 

[Wry Catcher]

VERY creepy critter.

It may very well be your Great to the millionth power ancestor.

Really? So we must have devolved from such an obviously superior organism

Idiot-gram ^^^

 

[sealybobo]

If you go into outer space without protection, you'll die.

The lack of pressure would force the air in your lungs to rush out. Gases dissolved in your body fluids would expand, pushing the skin apart and forcing it to inflate like a balloon. Your eardrums and capillaries would rupture, and your blood would start to bubble and boil. Even if you survived all that, ionising radiation would rip apart the DNA in your cells. Mercifully, you would be unconscious in 15 seconds.

How do these seemingly insignificant creatures survive in such extreme conditions?

But one group of animals can survive this: tiny creatures called tardigrades about 1mm long. In 2007, thousands of tardigrades were attached to a satellite and blasted into space. After the satellite had returned to Earth, scientists examined them and found that many of them had survived. Some of the females had even laid eggs in space, and the newly-hatched young were healthy.



Tardigrades return from the dead

This is my favorite animal in the world. about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. In the right light you can actually see them with the naked eye.

 

[sealybobo]

It probably came to Earth on a comet

...thrown by God.

You'd have no problem explaining how and why this creature evolved on Earth, right? What did it evolove from? What evolved from it

But it must have evolved from something because the things it eats weren't here when life first started on earth.