The tardigrade releases almost all of its body water and turns into a shrunken little ball called a "tun". It can remain motionless this way for decades. Astronauts left tardigrades unprotected in ...

When exposed to a salty environment (osmobiosis), a tun is formed while the tardigrade also uses advanced osmoregulation to maintain fluid flow out of their cells. Finally, tardigrades are able to ...

That process is the signal that lets the tardigrade know it’s time to go into the protective mode of tun. The free radicals become, so to speak, the hammer used to smash the glass on a fire alarm.

In biostasis the animal turns into a 'tun,' the name for a dormant tardigrade. This ability is one of many that enables them to survive extreme conditions. In the tun state, tardigrades can take ...

Despite their need for water, tardigrades can survive droughts by entering what is known as a “tun state” where they tuck in their cells and organ systems, stopping their metabolism and ...

The image shows a scanning electron micrograph of 6 tardigrades in their tun state. When tardigrades dry out they retract their legs and heads within their cuticle, forming a ball like 'tun.

the tardigrade can take it all. 9. They can dry out and shut down their metabolism so that it falls to 0.01% of their usual state. This cyst-like state is called a “tun”, achieved using a ...

This isn't actually a tardigrade floating in space, but they are the first animal shown to be capable of surviving space exposure The moon might now be home to thousands of planet Earth's most ...