An enlarged image of a microscopic tardigrade. These invertebrates are considered close relatives of arthropods and are found in a variety of habitats around the world. Most plant-eating tardigrades ...

• Tardigrades are hardy enough to survive large asteroid impacts and even supernova blasts. • Water bears have survived all five mass extinctions on Earth since they first evolved about half a billion ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about biodiversity and the hidden quirks of the natural world. Imagine a creature so small it can fit between the grains ...

A baby tardigrade riding a nematode won $600 in Nikon's Small World in Motion Video Competition. Quinten Geldhof captured the video using a microscope and an iPhone. His setup cost under $1,000. The ...

Tardigrades may hitch-hike on passing snails to travel relatively long distances, according to laboratory studies. Sometimes called water bears, tardigrades can survive extreme environments in a dried ...

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 ...

No beast on Earth is tougher than the tiny tardigrade. It can survive being frozen at -272° Celsius, being exposed to the vacuum of outer space and even being blasted with 500 times the dose of X-rays ...