I still vividly remember the awe that my Sea Monkeys inspired in me as a child: what were these little critters exactly? had they really sprung spontaneously in

I still vividly remember the awe that my Sea Monkeys inspired in me as a child: what were these little critters exactly? had they really sprung spontaneously into being from that tiny packet? The theatre of it was genius, and knowing the (rather banal) reality would have ruined the magic.