Scientists shoot tardigrades from a gun to test their strength

Scientists continue to explore the endurance limits of the fantastically tenacious creatures, the tardigrades. In a recent study, biologists shot these cute invertebrates with a special gas gun at a sand target to see if they could survive the bullying.

In most cases, they survived. It was possible to kill the tardigrade in this way only when it physically fell apart – from a simple blow, the animals recovered. Scientists have found that the upper limit for collision speed that tardigrades can withstand is roughly 1,845 miles per hour.