They're immortal

LOVE IT!

Did you know you can collect them almost anywhere outside?

They live in moss and... well... everywhere. Think I'll get some in a few weeks (if it warms up).

Doesn't really need to warm up, unless that's for your sake, they can survive incredible extremes. What would you do with them though?

Warmth for me while I go collecting them.

I just like them... and I have a microscope. It would be nice to see them up close.

I guess it started with 'Sea Monkeys'. ;-)

ooooo, imagine if you could get an aquarium with a magnifying glass for a wall, so you could see them without a microscope?

I have three. The fronts are curved for a little magnification. Probably not enough though.

But yeah, that would be awesome. Maybe someone will come up with a digital aquarium wall magnifier - so you can change magnification levels.

Yup, that's the kinda thing I meant :)

It's a tardigrade, also known as a water bear. It's a microanimal (usually around 0.5 mm long) and can survive in nearly any environment, apparently including the vacuum of space.

Thanks for the science lesson idea!

Well if you're a teacher, a lot of your students might be even more interested, since a macro-sized version was featured in the (atrocious) show Star Trek Discovery.

I home school my kids! I like to really reach out and dig up some not so common things for them. They really love stuff like this!

Oh, and for the record, that image was taken with an electron microscope.

Good to know. I am actually working on saving for a good microscope or two. I think it's necessary if we want to dig down deep and really take a look at the world around us.

Well cool then, glad I could give you something kinda cool to teach them :)

They really enjoyed learning about these water bears today. I gave them some basics for today, and at the end I opened up the line for questions. So.... You'll be glad to know there is a video of a tardigrade pooping out there. MIND. BLOWN. LOL.

LMAO, and I'm glad they enjoyed it :)