Germany, Pastor Johann August Ephraim Goeze discovered the animal species Tardigrada, but its name was given to it in 1776 by Lazzaro Spallanzani. Since 1778, over 1,150 tardigrade species have been identified. They are microscopic animals with a segmented body and eight legs. They are extremophiles: they can live in extreme environmental conditions, such as temperatures just above absolute zero (0K) or much higher than the boiling point of water, pressures from zero to several times the pressure at the bottom of the ocean, doses of ionizing radiation several times greater than those that would kill a human, and they can survive the vacuum of space. They can go without food for more than 10 years and become dehydrated at up to 3% of their water content. They are 0.5 mm long when adult. They are a species that dates back 530 million years. They are found everywhere, from the Himalayas to the ocean trenches, and in water there are 25,000 tardigrades per liter. Earth is the planet of tardigrades…
