Random yappathon 4,

Howdy y'all!! long time no see! I haven't done this in a few days cause my ankle was hurting like CRAZY and I got my period and it's my birthday week :') this is perhaps the worst birthday ever for me. I am alone, with a broken leg, on my period, high on painkillers and doing literally nothing. Oh well. At least I can yap here without worry.

Sooooooo today I wanna talk about (drum rolls please.......)


TARDIGRADES!!!!!!

look at these cuties
They're also called water bears. They are by far my most favourite animals! And yes you heard it right, ANIMALS! They are some of the smallest and most resilient animals on earth! They measure about 0.05 mm to 1.3 mm in length, that is about the size of a period at the end of a sentence (.) ! These little guys even have their own phylum called Tardigrada under kingdom animalia.
They are virtually immortal and have seen through all five of the mass extinctions over the course of millions of years! Despite that though, they are very common prey microbes and often live only a couple of months due to predation, that is, if they are active. Because they do something called "Cryptobiosis"; When conditions turn harsh, they expel almost all water and curl into a dry ball called a 'tun', pausing their metabolism. They can only reanimate in presence of water. It is because of this that they can live for many many years! They can also survive the harsh vacuum, extreme temperature swings, and intense radiation of outer space. Anthropologically speaking, they are some of the most extensively studied organisms. Partially because of the characteristics of it's dna. They produce a unique damage-suppressing protein that binds to their DNA, shielding it from cosmic and ultraviolet radiation, levels that would instantly kill other animals. Scientists are finding ways to use this property to cure cancer or at least make it less likely to come back. In fact, scientists have successfully inserted tardigrade proteins into human cells in laboratory settings, revealing that these extreme-survival mechanisms can actually be transferred to human biology! How cool are these guys right! And where you can find them? Literally in your backyard. They are primarily hiding inside damp mosses, lichens, and leaf litter. If you have a microscope of at least have accessed to one, i highly encourage you to go and find them because they are absolutely adorable!

Anyways, this was it, thank you so much for reading if you are! Have a wonderful day or night <3