Tardigrades, also called water bears, are a phylum of microscopic, aquatic animals with segmented bodies. These creatures are related to arthropods and onychophorans. They are known for their adaptation to extreme environments using a low metabolic state called cryptobiosis.
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- Tardigrades Introduction, taxonomy of the tardigrade genera, and a description of Pseudobiotus megalonys. In German and English.
- The Incredible Water Bear Article from Microscopy UK, illustrated with still images and video clips.
- Hunting for 'Bears' in the Backyard Illustrated method for finding terrestrial tardigrades, an article from the Microscopy UK web magazine.
- A Tardigrade from Scotland A tardigrade from Scotland, Isohypsibius annulatus, described in Microscopy UK's online magazine.
- Tardigrades - Bears of the Moss An article from the Kansas School Naturalist features information about the habitat, anatomy, physiology, and special adaptations to extreme weather. Also, describes how to collect and study samples. Includes photos and diagrams.
- Tardigrades Movies, pictures, protocols and publications from a research laboratory at the University of North Carolina.
- Tardigrade Newsletter Current research on tardigrades compiled by two researchers.
- Nature's Secrets: What is the Most Common Species in Southwest Florida? A newspaper article about tardigrades from the Herald Tribune of Southwest Florida.
- Deep-Freeze A Time Magazine article that mentions Abbe Spallanzani, who discovered tardigrades in 1776, approaching the French philosopher Voltaire to ask about the soul of organisms that can be rehydrated and brought back to life.
- Tardigrades in Space TARDIS, a research project evaluating the ability of tardigrades to survive in open space conditions.
- Hardy Li'l Critters will be First Tested in Open Space News entry in the Boing Boing blog about tardigrades in space.
- A Science Prodigy in an Unlikely Place A New York Times article about a student who, as an eighth grader, studied whether power plants affect local tardigrade diversity
- Behold the Mighty, Microscopic Water Bear A short video from NPR's Science Friday about tardigrade research.
- 'Water Bears' are First Animal to Survive Vacuum of Space News article reporting that tardigrades exposed to the harsh combination of low pressure and intense radiation found in space, have survived and reproduced.
- Tiny water bears become first creatures to survive in space Daily Mail story about tardigrades surviving a trip in open space
- Do microorganisms have biogeography? Blog post explaining a theory that microorganisms, including many tardigrades, disperse around the world.
- Tardigrades A monthly web magazine, video clips, and images.
- Tardigrade Wikipedia article about water bears including their anatomy, evolution and adaptations to life in extreme environments.
- Mosses: More than just green forest dwellers Feature story about mosses and the tiny organisms that live on them.
- Moonstruck Two American college students looking for tardigrades in China to send to the moon, on a Google Lunar X Prize mission
- Charismatic microfauna: A scientist dishes on the wild kingdom beneath our feet An interview with a conservation scientist discussing the strange organisms she finds in soil, from an online environmental news magazine.
- Tardigrada - Encyclopedia of Life Tardigrades section of the Encyclopedia of Life project
- Unusual Creatures, Beautiful Sounds: Composer Michael Hearst's New Album An album of songs inspired by animals, including one song inspired by tardigrades.
- Nature Studies: We've lost touch with the tiny, microscopic things A newspaper article about a lost appreciation for microscopic organisms.
- Creative Collaborations: Globe-Trotting for Tardigrades A story about a pair of American college students traveling to China to search for tardigrades for a Google Lunar X Prize team.
- How Does the Tiny Waterbear Survive in Outer Space? Special adaptations allow the tiny animal known as the tardigrade to dry up and survive in suspended animation for years.
- Wunderkammer, A Handmade Cabinet of Curiosity: Tardigrade pattern Instructions for making a crochet water bear, with some photos.
- Tardigrade is plump, loveable Blog post with a photo of a water bear
- Soil organisms: It's pretty vicious down there Conservancy scientist Sophie Parker dishes the dirt on soil organisms and why you should care.
- ET enjoys the simple things in life A scientist considers the possibility of habitable worlds in the universe, the chances of them harbouring life, what aliens, if they exist, might be like, and how we might one day communicate with them across space and time.
- And Water Bear it Is! Entry in the DNA and Diversity blog about Hypsibius dujardini, a species of tardigrade whose genome is being sequenced.
- World's Hardiest Organisms to Face 3 Years in Space News from Popular Mechanics that a Russian spaceship that will visit one of Mars' moons will carry tardigrades and some other hardy organisms there and back
- New to nature No 105: Austeruseus faroensis A series in The Guardian focuses this time on a new tardigrade species
- How to Find and Care for a Pet Tardigrade (Water Bear) Tips for finding your own water bears, and keeping them as pets.
- This tiny creature is called a tardigrade Image of the day from EarthSky: a colorful tardigrade image produced by confocal microscopy.
- Tardigrades on Tumblr Tardigrade images on Tumblr, some animated
- The Virtually Indestructible Water Bear A news story for kids about water bears
- NASA Selects 26 Space Biology Research Proposals In August 2014, NASA announced upcoming space biology projects to be carried out on the International Space Station.
- The Few Tough Species That Survive the Rigors of Nothingness Story about water bears and lichens surviving exposure to the vacuum of space.
- Julia's water bear world Julia loves water bears.
- The pied piper of cool science tools Stanford bioengineer Manu Prakash and his students developed an inexpensive, paper microscope for seeing all sorts of things, including water bears.
- International Society of Tardigrade Hunters Advancing the study of tardigrade biology while engaging and collaborating with the public.
- Life at the Limits Now Open Video about 2015 "Life at the Limits" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History
- Critters found in Antarctic ice shows how tenacious life is - Salon.com An AP news story about critters and DNA found in Antarctic ice and in a sub-ice lake.
- Science Lesson Plan: Animals, Grades K-1 | Common Core Lesson plan on animals for grades K-1 includes a blank Know/Want to Know/Learned chart and a featured extension on tardigrades.
- Baby Squid, Bugs and Microbes Launched Into Space Wired Science story about tardigrades and other organisms on the Space Shuttle Endeavor's final mission.
- Top 10 Things Launched Into Space in 2008 Wired story about 2008 space launch cargo, including tardigrades
- Can Life Survive Deep Space? Let’s Send It There! Wired Science story about an experiment sending organisms to a Martian moon, and then back to Earth.
- Absurd Creature of the Week: The Incredible Critter That's Tough Enough to Survive in Space Wired Science column about strange organisms features water bears.
- 3D-printed tardigrades - Boing Boing Image of a 3D-printed water bear and a link to a site to print your own.
- College research team discovers new species of tardigrade A news article reporting the finding of a previously undiscovered species of tardigrade.
- Nothing frozen in Biomatrica’s storage process San Diego Union-Tribune story about a company developing a storage process for biological samples, exploiting natural processes from tardigrades.
- The Indomitable Water Bear Blog post about a short water bear zine by Chicago artist Alex Chitty
- 9 Real Things In Nature That Look So Unreal, You Have To Look Twice Story about surprising aspects of nature, with photographs.
- The 7 biggest unsolved mysteries in science A list of some unsolved mysteries in science.
- Just another reason why tardigrades are the best micro-animals Nicknamed water bears and moss piglets, the tiny creatures called tardigrades are adorable under the laser scanning microscope. Plus they can survive in the vacuum of space.
- 10 Intrepid Animal Astronauts Ten animals who played an indispensable role in paving the inter-planetary way to space.
- Five Creatures That Prove Life Could Exist On Other Planets (Or In Space) A blog post about animals and microbes that can survive extremes.
- Tardigrades, Frozen for 30 Years, Spring Back to Life Discovery Magazine blog story about tardigrades that were revived after being frozen for 30 years.
- Eight legged treats - Making gummy water bears How a few scientists made gummy water bears using a silicone candy mold custom made from their 3D-printed plastic mold.
- Tardigrades Are One Giant Head A Discover Magazine post about the evolutionary origins of tardigrades
- Barbie Now Has a Giant Tardigrade Steed News of a 3D-printable tardigrade
- Tardigrades Have the Right Stuff to Resist Radiation A short article from the New York Times on a new discovery about how water bears survive high levels of radiation
- When labs clash over tardigrade DNA, that's just science working as it should Washington Post article about research groups disputing how much foreign DNA is in a tardigrade genome