Speculative Fact #292: Amazing Microorganisms

Writers creating their own extraterrestrial lifeforms might do well to draw inspiration from the wonderful world of microbiology.
            The incredible little tardigrades (commonly known as ‘water bears’) are a hardy species of microorganism that live in every climate on Earth and have been around for over 500 million years. They have survived mass extinctions and can even survive after exposure to deadly radiation and the vacuums of space.
            The cute little tardigrade dries out its own skin and creates a protective shell made out of a sugar called trehalose. The water bear then dramatically lowers its own metabolism and puts itself in a natural state of suspended animation. Remarkably, a few drops of water are all it takes to revive them – tardigrades over a century old have been found and resuscitated.
            Perhaps your aliens have some evolutionary tricks up their sleeves and are nearly indestructible too. That could be good or bad for your protagonists. Can an indestructible being even conceive of a concept like death? Can an immortal being sympathize with a mortal one?

-Jonathan Hernandez

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