【Dear Utol: Catfish Episode 46】

While humans are Dear Utol: Catfish Episode 46beginning to figure out how to get the hell off this planet we're destroying, these tiny water bear creatures called tardigrades have evidently been evolving to survive whatever earthly calamity comes their way.

A study published Friday in a journal called Scientific Reportssays tardigrades can survive pretty much anything.

SEE ALSO: No, New York Mag: Climate change won't make the Earth uninhabitable by 2100

Three astrophysicists wanted to see what might be able to kill off the resilient microscopic creatures, so they ran some insane-sounding theoretical tests. The physicists threw gamma rays, asteroids and supernovae at the tardigrades, and the little guys pretty much hung around, according to the mathematical models used in the experiment.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

The physicists threw gamma rays, asteroids and supernovae at the tardigrades.

Vanquishing tardigrades would, according to the results, require a disastrous event large enough to be nearly unimaginable. It would take, for example, an asteroid much, much larger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs -- so big it would turn the Earth's water into gas. It would take, for example, the sun engulfing our planet.

Via Giphy

Tardigrades can stand epic disasters because they've evolved to handle radiation, extreme heat, insane cold, and even living in space. But this is where scientists a bit more familiar with animals start to quibble with the findings of the physicists.

Calling "tardigrade" an animal isn't the same as calling an African elephant an animal. There are more than 1,000 different species of tardigrades, and though some have evolved to survive in ridiculous conditions, it's not as if each tardigrade can survive an extreme dose of radiation.

But some of them certainly might. If we're going to try to figure out how to survive on this planet, perhaps we can learn something.

---

Featured Video For You

---

---

• Games
• Deals
• Life
• Shopping
• Science
• Tech
• Social Good
• Digital Culture

• Many Indigenous communities still lack broadband internet. Here's why.
• Best Echo deal: Get an Echo Pop and a Kasa smart color bulb for under $18
• Sam Altman and OpenAI employees are flooding the timeline with heart emojis
• Death’s Footsteps
• Donald Trump talked about space and Buzz Aldrin's face says it all
• Painting the American Dream at Guantánamo by Paige Laino
• How a potential recession will uniquely affect the creator economy
• TikTok's concert clip economy exposes fan culture's Y/N problem
• Apple's newest ad makes a haunting plea to take climate change seriously
• The Rise of Queer Comics

• Google I/O 2024: 'AI Agents' are AI personal assistants that can return your shoes
• Koalas are being released back into the wild after Australian bushfires
• Scientists made an environmentally friendly gin from peas. Yes, it will still get you drunk.
• JD announces salary increases for all retail employees, doubling pay for “front
• SpaceX, Blue Origin awarded NASA contracts for upcoming Moon mission
• That UFO footage is the biggest 2020 mood yet
• Meet two adorable baby penguins in this aquarium livestream
• China implements real
• Google injects still more AI into Google Docs and other Workspace apps at Google I/O
• 'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow' $5.99 on Kindle

• NYT Connections hints and answers for January 20: Tips to solve 'Connections' #589.
• If I Had a Sense of Beauty
• Reading Between the Lines: “Gilded Age Drawings at the Met”
• In the age of TikTok, the female gaze has lost all meaning
• Ms. Frizzle spotted at Science Marches across the globe
• A Message from ‘The Paris Review’ Staff
• White Man on a Pedestal
• Staff Picks: Interwar, War, and Postwar
• Best Ninja deal: Save $50 on the FrostVault 45QT cooler
• 'Seinfeld' AI

• SpaceX is so close to turning its rocket headquarters into an actual city
• Best Black Friday Roomba deals at Amazon 2023
• Gillian Anderson is curating a book about sex and wants your anonymous stories
• Puerto Rico Sketchbook: The Artists with the Shovels
• Best Xbox Elite Series 2 deal: Save $32 on this pro
• How a potential recession will uniquely affect the creator economy
• The best Black Friday deals on Apple AirTags in 2023
• How Original Are You? by Robert Shore
• NYT Connections hints and answers for February 1: Tips to solve 'Connections' #601.
• 15+ Black Friday 2023 Chromebook deals at Best Buy