[prolikewh0a]

Tardigrades are hardcore.

From Wikipedia: Tardigrades are considered to be able to survive even complete global mass extinction events due to astrophysical events, such as gamma-ray bursts, or large meteorite impacts. Some of them can withstand extremely cold temperatures down to 1 K (−458 °F; −272 °C) (close to absolute zero), while others can withstand extremely hot temperatures up to 420 K (300 °F; 150 °C) for several minutes, pressures about six times greater than those found in the deepest ocean trenches, ionizing radiation at doses hundreds of times higher than the lethal dose for a human, and the vacuum of outer space. They can go without food or water for more than 30 years, drying out to the point where they are 3% or less water, only to rehydrate, forage, and reproduce. Tardigrades that live in harsh conditions undergo an annual process of cyclomorphosis, allowing for survival in sub-zero temperatures.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardigrade

[topmonk]

They actually aren't very tough unless they are prodded into going into a sort of hibernation called cryptobiosis. If the temperature changes too quickly, they die quite easily.

https://venturebeat.com/2017/02/24/complicated-weird-beautif...

[viach]

Awesome. This is how Trisolarians might look like.

[F_r_k]

For those who don't catch it, it's from the "the three body problem" book. I highly recommend it to anyone if you like a techy sci fi with philosophical questions.

[jorvi]

Actually, its from a full trilogy: “The Three Body Problem”, “The Dark Forest” and “Death’s End”. Wonderful books and indeed wholly recommended to any sci-fi buff.

[mkingston]

For anyone who missed this, it's being made into a tv series: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the...

[achileas]

There's also a ton of cryopreservation in the trilogy, especially the third book.

[singularity2001]

Unscientific trope of pure love: In German they are called Bärtierchen (lose translation: bear-thingies) whose name and appearance is reminiscent of gummy-bears.

[larrykwg]

translates more like "bear animal" actually

[scandox]

Tierchen is surely cuter than just Animal? Like maybe like critter or beastie?

[zaarn]

Yes.

"Tier" would be an animal of sorts. "chen" is a common suffix for cutiefying something or indicate it's small (and adorable).

"Tierchen" would be a cute animal, usually a small one too.

The suffixes "-lein" und "-erl" function similarly but have been largely replaced in common german (though in southern germany, both are alive and well)

[sushimako]

The linguistic term for what you are describing is "diminutive".

[pavel_lishin]

I assuem that's the "-lein" in "Fraulein"? Is "-erl" the masculine version?

[blensor]

Hmm, interesting to try and pinpoint the difference between "lein" and "erl". I would say they are both diminutive but not exactly in the same way.

erl ... would be more related to the actual size

  Sack -> Sackerl (bag -> small bag)
  Wagen -> Wagerl (cart -> small cart)

lein ... would be more related to the inner size (sorry I can't frame this into words any better)

  Frau -> Fräulein (Woman -> Younger/Fragile woman (unmarried))
  Wagen -> Wäglein (Cart -> smaller but also lesser cart)

edit: referring to the answer of pavel_lishin. Yes "qualitative" modifier was the word I am looking for.

[taejo]

It is the "-lein" in "Fräulein", but "-lein" isn't only for feminine nouns: the word "Männlein" also exists. I suspect "-erl" is the same, though I don't speak a dialect where it's used; some dialects have "-l" or "-li" which can also attach to any gender of noun (as in "Hansl" and "Gretl")

[nothrabannosir]

In English they’re also called water bears.

[Roritharr]

We should seed the universe with tardigrades. It sounds like they deserve it.

[gnur]

Perhaps the tardigrades have already done that.

[Baeocystin]

Considering they've been around for the five major extinction events here on Earth, some of which involved very large impacts, it is almost certain that there are, to this day, bits of frozen, orbiting ejecta that actually do contain tardigrades.

Still viable? Almost certainly not. But it makes for a fun what if to ponder on the other option!

[SiVal]

Or maybe tardigrades seeded Earth with our ancestors. Maybe tardis and tardigrade come from the same ancient language. If so, I for one am ready to serve our diminutive overlords.

[fit2rule]

What if we have the little ones, but normal tardigrades are gigantic, and like to eat stars, huh? I mean, come on.

[nootropicat]

Sounds like a reliable self-repairing and self-replicating storage solution. Encode the data in their dna and secure it with a hash.

[Uberphallus]

And chain that hash to the next self-replicated individual to form a bioblockchain, to distribute copies and achieve bioconsensus. I worry though about viral 51% attacks.

[everdev]

Is there any speculation in the scientific community as to why they developed these adaptations?