Can any living thing survive in space?
A European Space Agency experiment shows that tiny eight-legged invertebrates known as “water bears” are the first known animal to survive the vacuum and radiation of space. The hardy critters, also called tardigrades, are between 0.1 to 1.5 millimeters long and thrive in moist conditions. They can commonly be found munching on wet lichens and moss, but are quite capable of living in harsher conditions such as dunes, mountaintops and ocean depths. Should their environment become too dry, water bears can stop metabolic function to enter a state of cryptobiosis until conditions return to being more hospitable. According to a report in New Scientist, a study lead by Ingemar Joensson of Sweden exposed some 3,000 water bears to 10 days of open space while aboard a ESA spacecraft in low orbit. “Our principal finding is that the space vacuum, which entails extreme dehydration, and cosmic radiation were not a problem for water bears. On the other hand, the ultraviolet radiation in space is har
