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Tardigrades can survive until the end of the Earth, astrophysicists say
- tgjsrkghruksd 9y agoGood for them, the little buggers. Here's to another half a billion years. I have no doubt they'll outlast humans.
- Jabanga 9y agoWhile our lives are fragile, our numbers few, and our ability to destroy each other great, the capabilities that our technology gives us to survive and spread shouldn't be underestimated.
- MegaButts 9y agoYou shouldn't underestimate the capabilities of our technology to destroy ourselves either.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- amingilani 9y agoIf the movie Life were real, and Earth were the planet being sampled, those cuddly beasts would kill with their cuteness.
- johnchristopher 9y ago`Live tiny, die never` :) http://i.imgur.com/AYsBKTT.jpg http://i.imgur.com/AYsBKTT.jpg (5 times apocalypse champion)
- jwilk 9y ago> For an asteroid to deposit that much energy into the ocean, it would need a mass of at least 1.7 quintillion kilograms. Of all the asteroids in the solar system, only 19 fit the bill. (By way of comparison, the asteroid that finished the dinosaurs was six miles across; an asteroid called Vesta that is one of the potential ocean killers has a diameter of 326 miles.) How much does a mile weigh?
- rimliu 9y ago> How much does a mile weigh? A mile of diameter weights 7 * 10^8 * density_of_the_asteroid kilograms. (mass equals volume of the body * density. Volume of the sphere is 4/3radius^3. Hence 4/3(1/2mile)^3 = 4/3*(1609.344/2)^3 = about 694696971 cubic meters. 694696970,906763
- barrkel 9y agoEvery mile extra adds more mass than the previous mile, in a squaring proportion, because it wraps around a larger volume and thus has a larger area.
- Retric 9y agoThe ^3 takes care of that. His answer is for 1 mile, but you can easily substitute 37.23 or whatever miles in the formula. 4/3(x 1609.344/2)^3 = cubic meters.
- barrkel 9y agoThe formula he gave for a mile doesn't include a cubic term: > A mile of diameter weights 7 * 10^8 * density_of_the_asteroid kilograms.
- Retric 9y agoYou misreading it, 1 mile diameter = F(density). You can convert that into a formula aka x mile diameter = x ^ 3 * f(density), but it's just a solution not every solution.
- type0 9y agoThis is basically how we'll end up with the Alien synopsis in the future. Look at them, the resemblance is quite astonishing: http://dinoanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tardigrades2.jpg http://dinoanimals.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tardigrade...
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- writeonlymemory 9y agoHow much data could these things encode? The tardigrade may be the best candidate to preserve our history in the long shot.
- deftnerd 9y agoNot just preserve our history, but spread it. Assuming these neigh-invulnerable wonders can survive the g-forces, we could mass-manufacture containers to store tardigrades and launch them blindly into space with railguns. The containers would be designed so the g-forces of impact would crack them open. When the very rare occasion happens where a container impacts a planet or moon, the tardigrades would be exposed to the environment. If it could support the basics of life, after a few thousand years, they would be present enough in the environment that any alien life that exists there or might develop there will eventually notice them. If the tardigrade DNA contains a message from Earth, it might be discovered and decoded. It could be the best way to ensure that our existence won't be forgotten in the scale of billions of years.
- MikkoFinell 9y agoYay lets tell unknown and potentially extremely hostile aliens all about us. It's like running unarmed into a jungle at night yelling and screaming.
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- sitkack 9y agoMaybe the message is already in the Tardigrade.
- vbuwivbiu 9y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll5nY8qMbO8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll5nY8qMbO8
- 9y ago
- mrleinad 9y agoVogons will take care of that pest. The superhighway can't be contaminated with those creatures.
- ge96 9y agoDid they get hyperspace clearance? Nyooo commander.
- unclebucknasty 9y agoWonder what happens when you swallow a water bear.
- maxxxxx 9y agoYou are probably doing that all the time.
- roywiggins 9y agoI imagine you get a slightly miffed water bear out the other end eventually.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]