Can shrug off lethal radiation, survive in a vacuum and go without water for more than a century. But these traits belong to little-known animals less than a millimetre long that probably live on your rooftop. Like superheroes, the animals conceal their powers behind a mild-mannered everyday appearance.
Tardigrades are by far the toughest animals on Earth.
They have also steadfastly defied our attempts to define their limits. The full article is available in the 23 October issue of New Scientist magazine. See below for details. With its overtones of spontaneous generation, van Leeuwenhoek's experiment entertained Europe's chattering classes during the latter half of the 18th century. Following in Spallanzani's footsteps, physiologists tried to outdo each other in testing the animals' capacity to withstand hardship.