The Tardigrade: Practically Invisible, Indestructible ‘Water Bears’
The article discusses a microscopic species named the tardigrade (latin for slow walker), which is in fact considered an animal. This sixteenth of an inch long creature has a snout, eight legs, and is somewhat translucent, yet manages to be repeatedly compared to a bear’s appearance, therefore earning the title as Water Bear. It’s earned much interest from the public outside simply the zoologist. It is found all over the U.S.; one just has to look through moss or lichen. This species has come to an amazement to the science population because of their traits to withstand the most extreme conditions like exposure to outer space, antarctic conditions, and rapid temperature changes. The tardigrade has the ability to curl up into a “tun” which is the cause of its high resilience to extremities. It’s in this tun phase that they have the capability of changing the amount of water present in their internal system. They reach a type of “suspended animation” in which their metabolism is 0.01 percent of their normal level. Scientists like Dr. Siddall concluded that without water these creatures aren’t susceptible dangers as easily as we are. Things like radiation need water to affect the organism. However scientists aren’t currently able to deduce the tardigrade’s purpose in life, ‘they merely are.’
Although the importance of the tardigrade is not known and humans cannot just suspend their animation like a tardigrade anytime in the future, the emergence of tardigrade is still important. Perhaps there’s another factor contributing to their resilience, that’s the beauty of science afterall. There are endless possibilities; science is not always one answer. Studying these creatures and their abilities further may actually come to some use to humankind in the near future. Basically this affects humanity because the very idea that a creature can accomplish what the tardigrade does offers a clue into the mysteries of life which we, as a species, hold a faint grasp of. It holds the same level of importance as an ethologist studying pill bug behavior.
My overall critique of the article would be that the author, Cornelia Dean, had a nicely written piece, excluding a few minor quirks. She nicely balanced quotes, both from average people and experts, and had a great flow to her article that made it easier to follow as a reader. She did a nice job explaining what the tardigrade is and why it is so stupefying. However she didn’t thoroughly explain exactly how it resembled a bear despite the fact it had eight legs. Also I think it was unnecessary for her to include a couple of paragraphs about Mr. Shaw, a tardigrade enthusiast. It’s just simply because we want to know more about the tardigrade not exactly how Mr. Shaw became obsessed with the topic of tardigrades.
link:
Dean, Cornelia. "The Tardigrade: Practically Invisible, Indestructible ‘Water Bears’." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/science/the-tardigrade-water-bear.html?action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront>.
Indira,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your review of the article “The Tardigrade: Practically Invisible, Indestructible ‘Water Bears.’ One aspect that you presented well, was your introduction of the tardigrade. You gave specific information about the animal and how it has intrigued interest from not only scientists but also from the public. Another thing you did well, was present a quote from a scientist. By integrating a quote from Dr. Siddall, your review gains more credibility. I liked how you mentioned their were endless possibilities going beyond what science knows. Also, I really liked how you added a picture, because it helps to visualize the tardigrade. Although I really enjoyed reading your review, I think there are a few things you could improve on. One, maybe you could go into a little more depth about the tardigrade. I know this would be hard, however, because not much is known about the species. Also, maybe you could elaborate on Mr. Shaw, who you mentioned in your critique of the article. One thing I learned about your review is that the tardigrade species exists. It amazes me that an animal that is only one sixteenth of an inch can exist. I mean how can scientists even discover this animal.
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ReplyDeleteYou did a really good job of setting up the tardigrade and being specific about how it is extraordinary. Along with this, in your second paragraph you put the correct information in that leaves the reader wondering how studies of these animals can be used in scientific research. The third aspect of this review that was positive was that you brought your opinion into the third paragraph in what i though was a fair and concise manor. Every rose does have its thorn and there were some aspects of the review that could have been improved upon. For example, there could have been more information on what scientists speculate the study of these animals could lead to. Secondly the question of why it is called a bear seems somewhat irrelevant to the point of the piece and more of a humorous name that was given to the animal simply based on its appearance. This article and review really does leave the reader with a lot of questions and is a great example of how scientists can look to such seemingly simple creatures to find answers to questions they never even knew they were going to ask.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article I was truly impressed by the tiny “Water Bear” these scientists have discovered. It is really awesome that there can be tiny creatures that are so interesting and still have not been discovered yet. Besides picking a great article I think you did a superb job giving a summary of the article and reflecting on the author's writing style and techniques. Another great thing you were able to do is cite scientist’s own thoughts. Getting information directly from the source by tying in Dr.Siddall is a strong technique. Also as an added bonus, I think the picture of the bear set the stage and really helped me understand what it was that I was looking at. While it was really well written I was left questioning many things about there bear. For instance you left the first paragraph by telling us that they did not understand the purpose of the bear. Does that mean, how they integrate with the environment? or something larger? Also how was this creature found, as it is not considered a common animal at all. In fact I had never heard of it before this article. The second thing that I think maybe could have been done better is elaborating on the importance in research this creature could lead scientists to do or find. You told us that it was important but in what way? Overall I love the article itself and wonder how we could take some the skills and properties from this creature (the invincible part especially) and apply them to practical applications or tie the genes into other creatures to give them similar traits. I think that the ability to slow down one's metabolism could be an incredibly useful tool maybe for people in the future. It was a pleasure to read about this, thank you Indira.
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