Water bear emerges victorious after 30-year freeze [video]

When we talk about the toughest organisms on Earth, nothing beats the sheer grit of the tartigrade, also lovingly known as the water bear. In case you weren’t impressed by their ability to survive extreme temperatures and mind-boggling amounts of radiation, a team of cryobiologists from Tokyo’s National Institute of Polar Research recently thawed a pair of specimens collected in the Antarctic back in 1983. Not only did one survive, it hatched fourteen eggs a few days after springing back to life. Tartigrades are found on every continent, usually hiding in moss or tree lichen. If you’d like to collect a few of your own, check out this video from PBS Digital Studios.

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