Well Educated Tardigrades

Aug 04, 2024 • 9:18 PM UTC

Middlesex County, MA, USA

140x Magnification

Microorganisms

Holly Stuart (Foldscope Team)

Education Specialist at Foldscope Instruments

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On a recent trip to Boston, I had the opportunity to explore the campuses of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University. Of course I collected moss samples to see if there were any well educated tardigrades on their campuses.

Tardigrades are eight legged microscopic invertebrate animals that live in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments. They can be found on moss and lichen and eat algae, plants, and other microorganisms.

Tardigrades swim in the thin water layer surrounding moss and lichen. If the moss and lichen are dry, the tardigrades are still there, but they are in what is called the tun state. The tun state allows tardigrades to survive in unfavorable living conditions. All the dehydrated tun state tardigrades need for reanimation is some water. Just soak moss and lichen in spring water to bring tardigrades out of the tun state. When they are active again, you can watch them swim around on your slide.

Not surprisingly, the tardigrades I found at MIT and Harvard looked similar. Both were terrestrial species collected from moss and lichen samples I picked off of trees. And they lived in close proximity to one another. These two tardigrades would probably have developed the same adaptations needed to survive in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

While I don’t have any documented proof of the intelligence of the MIT and Harvard tardigrades, I am pretty sure I saw them solving complex mathematical equations and writing lengthy argumentative essays on the slides!

Tardigrade from MIT campus moss sample: