The itsy bitsy spaceship

The first time I used a new hearing aid,

A wee voice said: "Earthling, don't be afraid!

We've traveled through space

To reunite with our race.

Please take us to your nearest tardigrade!"

Note: Tardigrades are AMAZING! About the size of a 12-point font comma, their chubby charm has earned them nicknames like "water bear" and "moss piglet."

Tardigrades are not only cute, but one of the most resilient creatures on our planet (and perhaps beyond?). They have been found on every continent, in just about every type of habitat, from volcano to Arctic ice, from mountaintop to ocean floor.

When conditions get too dire they enter a desiccated, shriveled-up, barely-alive state. Though their normal lifespan is a few months at most, they can hang out in this extreme hibernation for many years. Maybe longer than a human lifetime. Then, soon as they encounter even a teeny amount of happy water again ... poof! they revive.

In their hibernating state they can survive extreme heat, freezing, drought, radiation .... and even the vacuum of outer space!

Is it any wonder tardigrades invite speculation that they originated from another world? Perhaps they arrived as accidental explorers, crash landing deep within a meteor, drifting here and there across our planet, creating colonies wherever they could find rejuvenating water? Perhaps hiding out microscopically for millennia ... just waiting to be tracked down by their kind?