This Tiny Insect Can Survive Being Frozen, Boiled, And Blasted Into Space

It is nearly impossible to kill, and it is chilling on wet moss right now.

There is a creature so tough that scientists sent it into the vacuum of space just to see what would happen, and it strolled back like nothing occurred. Meet the tardigrade, the water bear, about the size of a speck.

When conditions turn brutal, a tardigrade curls into a dried-out ball called a tun. In this state it can endure temperatures near absolute cold and well above boiling, then rehydrate and carry on.

It has survived pressures far greater than the deepest ocean and radiation doses that would flatten almost anything else. Some tardigrades exposed to open space returned alive and even reproduced afterward.

You do not need a lab to find them. Tardigrades live in mossy patches, damp soil, and gutters worldwide. Squeeze a bit of wet moss under a microscope and you may spot the toughest animal on the planet, waving eight legs.