--- title: "This Livestream of Tardigrades on Twitch is Oddly Soothing" description: "Canadian artist Julie Laurin recently started a livestream of tardigrades — eight-legged micro-animals also known as \"water bears\" — on Twitch." date: "2020-03-26" modified: "2020-03-26" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/livestream-tardigrades-twitch" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "livestream" - "Tardigrades" - "the digest" --- # This Livestream of Tardigrades on Twitch is Oddly Soothing ![Canadian artist Julie Laurin recently started a livestream of tardigrades — eight-legged micro-animals also known as "water bears" — on Twitch.]() *\Image: Julie Laurin via Twitter\* ## Keep on Swimming Canadian artist Julie Laurin recently started a livestream of tardigrades — microscopic, eight-legged micro-animals also known as "water bears" — wriggling around on Twitch. And it's exactly the kind of thing we need right now. You can watch a full, narrated hour of tardigrade action on [Laurin's Twitch channel](). The stream, [first spotted by *Boing Boing*](), is part of a project called "A Tiny World" that explores microscopic life that surrounds us. https://twitter.com/atinyworldorg/status/1242820499522158592 ## All Around "By sharing this journey with you, my hope is that maybe you’ll be inspired to get your own microscope, or to look closer at the little objects and creatures all around you!" Laurin's description of the project reads on an [official website](). So where is Laurin finding all of these critters? In dirt found on her balcony. "There are hundreds and hundreds of #Tardigrades that live on my balcony and I think they thrive in this brownish-greenish film and dirt that has formed over the years due to improper draining," Laurin wrote in [a tweet](). ## Little Water Bears First discovered by biologists in the late 1700s, tardigrades are tiny micro-animals that can be found in a huge variety of environments, from oceans to sand dunes. They're also [immensely resilient creatures](): they can survive the vacuum of space, adapt to severe dehydration, and can even block intense blasts of radiation. But they might have an Achilles heel after all, [according to recent research](): global warming. **READ MORE:** [It's fun to watch tardigrades squirm around on Twitch, adorably]() \[*Boing Boing*\] **More on tardigrades:** [Scientists: Global Warming Could Kill Tardigrades]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()