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Newly discovered water bear (tardigrade) even beats radiation

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These life forms can survive in space-like conditions and who knows what else?:

A newly discovered species of tardigrade that glows blue when exposed to ultraviolet light uses the powers of fluorescence as a protective shield, according to new research.

Tardigrades, nicknamed water bears or moss piglets, are microscopic animals capable of tolerating some unbelievably tough conditions, such as freezing temperatures, radiation, dehydration, and even the vacuum of space. In 2016, scientists in Japan even managed to revive a tardigrade that had been frozen for more than 30 years. Around 1,300 different species of these eight-legged creatures are known to exist, and they’re found all around the world.

George Dvorsky, “Newly Discovered Glowing Tardigrade Is Weirdly Resistant to Lethal Doses of UV Radiation” at Gizmodo

The authors of the open access paper in Biology Letters think that the weird blue glow protects them from deadly UV radiation.

It seems that there aren’t many technologies that humans have invented that haven’t been done before us.

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Comments
Wonderful video, except for the last line about the "next mass extinction". They just had to slip in the requisite prayer to Gaia.polistra
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