{"id":499872,"date":"2026-03-02T20:36:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T20:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499872\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T20:36:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T20:36:08","slug":"scientists-finally-found-something-tardigrades-cant-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/499872\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Finally Found Something Tardigrades Can\u2019t Survive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tardigrades are tiny, endearing, and practically invincible<\/a>. As it turns out, however, not even tardigrades can survive the harsh conditions of the Martian surface. Or at least, simulations of the Martian surface.<\/p>\n

For a recent study published in the International Journal of Astrobiology<\/a>, researchers plopped tardigrades into lab-made reconstructions of the Martian regolith, or the loose mineral deposits covering the planet\u2019s bedrock. The experiment had several twists and turns. Initially, tardigrades struggled to survive on Martian soil, but a simple pre-wash of the regolith appeared to greatly boost tardigrade survivability.<\/p>\n

\"TardigradeThe three images on top are active tardigrades in a typical Earth environment of beach sand. The bottom four images show active tardigrades after some time in the simulated Martian soils, with arrows noting some mineral interactions. Credit: Corien Bakermans\/Penn State University <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know a lot about bacteria and fungi in simulated regolith, but very little about how they impact animals\u2014even microscopic animals, like tardigrades,\u201d Corien Bakermans, the study\u2019s lead author and a microbiologist at Penn State University, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Microbial astronauts for Earth <\/p>\n

The study\u2019s primary goal was to assess the Martian regolith\u2019s impact on planetary protection<\/a>, or the practice of keeping extraterrestrial bodies safe from Earthly contaminants\u2014and vice versa. Specifically, the researchers investigated whether Martian soil was at all compatible with plant growth, in addition to the presence of \u201cinherent damaging conditions\u201d to \u201cprotect against contamination from Earth,\u201d Bakermans explained.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As microscopic animals with experience surviving outer space<\/a>\u2014not to mention extreme temperatures, radiation, dehydration, and starvation\u2014tardigrades appeared to be ideal candidates for this mission, according to the study.<\/p>\n

Lab-made Martian soil <\/p>\n

For the study, the researchers created two types of Martian regolith. The replica soil was based on samples collected by NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover during its journey through the Rocknest Deposit<\/a> at the Gale Crater.<\/p>\n

One sample, named MGS-1, served as a \u201cglobal\u201d regolith representing the planet\u2019s overall surface, whereas another sample, OUCM-1, was subsequently developed with \u201cspecific attention to chemical composition [and] mineral makeup,\u201d the researchers explained.<\/p>\n

The team studied both the dormant and active states of tardigrade activity. The former occurs when tardigrades are severely dehydrated; this was also the state that allowed them to survive the vacuum of space or the depths of the ocean. On the other hand, active tardigrades will be \u201cvigorously crawling or swimming,\u201d according to the paper.<\/p>\n

Tardigrades in desolate soil <\/p>\n

The team mixed active tardigrades into each regolith sample, checking their activity levels over several days. They found that MGS-1 significantly reduced tardigrade activity, pushing some to become completely inactive by day two. By contrast, OUCM-1 tardigrades were \u201creasonably energetic at all time points,\u201d the paper noted. In both samples, the tardigrades\u2014dead or alive\u2014had mineral particles near their mouths.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a little surprised by how damaging MGS-1 was,\u201d Bakermans said. \u201cWe theorized that there might be something specific in the simulant that could be washed away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, when the researchers gave MGS-1 a simple rinsing with water, the tardigrades added to the modified mixture showed far more vigor for several days and managed to survive, according to the paper. Bakermans noted that this was unexpected, but it suggests the regolith contains substances that are highly damaging to contaminants.<\/p>\n

Far from Mars <\/p>\n

That said, the experiment comes with some important caveats. First, the researchers say it\u2019s relatively reassuring that something as simple as rinsing regolith with water might remove harmful substances. But if humanity moves to Mars, water will be a huge issue, whether or not there\u2019s a need to wash the soil.<\/p>\n

Also, this was a simulation that relied on pretend Martian regolith; for better or worse, no tardigrades have ever set foot on Mars (as far as we know). As the researchers noted, further investigations that account for pressure or temperature differences may play a significant role in tardigrade survivability. Finally, tardigrades are fascinating test subjects, but they don\u2019t tell the whole story about contamination risks on Mars. How they perform in Mars-like conditions doesn\u2019t necessarily show how other organisms\u2014including hardy extremophile microbes\u2014would survive or spread there.<\/p>\n

Still, the new results offer some insight into how \u201cany single piece could be a drawback or benefit the larger understanding of planetary protection,\u201d as Bakermans describes it. Also, it\u2019s another example of how tardigrades are perhaps the toughest creatures ever to exist. Seriously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tardigrades are tiny, endearing, and practically invincible. As it turns out, however, not even tardigrades can survive the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[79163,196,79,193,94512],"class_list":{"0":"post-499872","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-astrobiology","9":"tag-mars","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-space","12":"tag-tardigrades"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499872\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}