Bill Gurstelle has fond things to say about tartigrades (AKA water bears), which are tiny invertebrates. I guess they look more like bears than Sea Monkey's look like monkeys.
Now here's the thing I really like about tartigrades. They are apparently the World's Toughest Animal. You can shoot them into space, take them to the deepest ocean depths and let them go, deprive them of air, water, and food for years and they don't care. Send them into the core of nuclear reactor. They'll be fine.
Reader comment: Peter Hollo says:
Thought you'd be interested that my friend Melbourne singer-songwriter Mal Webb has a song called "Waterbear," all about the little critters. It's pretty cute, although it usually helps if you've seen him live — he uses an AKAI Headrush pedal to loop his voice and sometimes other instruments; very bizarre, clever and funny.
Here's the song lyrics, with a little spiel about tardigrades, and you download a 2MB mp3 of the song there too!
Reader comment: Tom says: "Architect Eugene Tsui built the Tsui House in Berkeley, California, a
structure that mimics the tardigrade form, with emphasis on resilience to
extreme conditions."
This structure is based upon the world's most indestructable living creature–the Tardigrade, with its oval plan and parabolic top it utilizes the same structural principles nature employs in creating an astoundingly durable design.
