🧬 Tardigrades, also called water bears, live everywhere with liquid water - from oceans to lakes to the thin water layers on mosses. They inhabit extreme environments from high mountains (19,600 feet in the Himalayas) to deep oceans (15,000 feet below the surface). These microscopic creatures survive extreme conditions by transforming into a dehydrated state called a "tun," essentially pausing their metabolism.⁠ ⁠ 😲 In tun form, tardigrades withstand incredible conditions: temperatures from -328°F to +300°F, intense radiation, and pressures six times greater than those of the deepest ocean. A 2008 study showed that they survived 10 days in space, exposed to solar radiation and a vacuum. Scientists recently fired dehydrated tardigrades from a gun at 3,000 feet per second, and they survived impacts of 1.14 gigapascals. This resilience suggests that tardigrades aboard the crashed Beresheet lunar lander may still exist on the moon.⁠ ⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ 🎥 courtesy of: @my.microscopic.world⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠...