How to Use water bear in a Sentence
water bear
noun-
In this state, water bears have survived in outer space and then revived.
—Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Jan. 2020
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One of these hardier options is the tardigrade, or water bear (see image above).
—The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 9 Nov. 2021
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Even if the water bear's speed changed, their gait stayed the same, per Gizmodo.
—Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 3 Sep. 2021
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The stone walkways along the water bore the weight of history, of other times and other lives.
—Nicole Brodeur, The Seattle Times, 7 Dec. 2018
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At least 1,300 species of water bear swim in Earth’s waters and crawl in its moist soils.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 16 Jan. 2020
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And even if the water bear army fails, the hardy critters would still outlive the Enterprise’s crew.
—Kyle Hill, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2013
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When water begins to flow again, water bears absorb it to rehydrate and return to life.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 16 Apr. 2024
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This time the little water bears did much better, showing only minor ill effects.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 4 Mar. 2026
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In the last few years, tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, have gotten a lot of attention for being tough.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 20 Mar. 2017
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Also known as water bears, tardigrades are tiny water-dwelling creatures famed for their resiliency.
—National Geographic, 14 July 2017
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When they were returned to earth and rehydrated, some of the microscopic water bears woke up.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 8 Aug. 2019
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But the new species, with its unique traits, has given science a whole new line of investigation into the bizarre water bear.
—David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 28 Feb. 2018
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But in principle, a colony of water bears is within the realm of possibility.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 7 Aug. 2019
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To top it off, these lovable micro-animals are known colloquially as water bears or moss piglets.
—Kate Golembiewski, Discover Magazine, 8 June 2023
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Tardigrades, also known as water bears, are probably the toughest creatures on Earth.
—Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 8 Aug. 2019
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Each sphere is teeming with invertebrate life, hosting creatures such as tardigrades, commonly known as water bears.
—Candice Wang, Popular Science, 28 May 2020
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The tiny water bear was roaming the lakeshore mosses within Crater Cirque, a natural bowl hollowed out by ancient glaciers.
—Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 19 June 2014
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Despite their tiny stature and their adorable nicknames—moss piglets, water bears—the tenacious tardigrade has some tremendous capabilities.
—Ben Panko, Smithsonian, 27 July 2017
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The microbial creatures, also known as water bears, can survive just about anywhere, including the vacuum of space.
—David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 28 Feb. 2018
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When the water bears returned to Earth, the scientists discovered that 68 percent lived through the ordeal.
—Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, 7 Aug. 2019
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The resilient tun state isn’t the only tactic water bears use to survive environmental stress, and the team plans to study these other strategies in close detail.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 17 Jan. 2024
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If necessary, water bears excrete all the water in their bodies while slowing their metabolism down to a near-standstill, entering what is known as a tun state.
—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
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The resilient tun state isn’t the only tactic water bears use to survive environmental stress, and the team plans to scrutinize other strategies.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 17 Jan. 2024
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Mosses which house many microscopic organisms, including the famous tardigrade, or water bear.
—Deboki Chakravarti, Scientific American, 13 Aug. 2021
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To create the little organisms, which scoot around a petri dish a bit like water bears—those tiny microorganisms that are pretty much impossible to kill—the researchers scraped living stem cells from frog embryos.
—Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 14 Jan. 2020
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With a resolution of 3 micron and a field of view of around one millimeter, this lens, which is packaged in red, allows the user to see cells and microorganisms like protozoans and water bears.
—Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 22 Nov. 2019
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As for whether any of the DNA or tardigrades are still intact, that’s anyone’s guess, but Spivack says there’s no reason to worry about water bears taking over the moon.
—Daniel Oberhaus, WIRED, 5 Aug. 2019
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The dehydration resistance of water bears could help inform scientists on how to preserve biological material, like cells, crops, and meats.
—National Geographic, 1 Mar. 2018
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With an evolutionary timeline that stretches back to the age of the dinosaurs, this miniature micro-animal — also known the water bear — is renowned for its ability to survive extreme conditions.
—Sean Mowbray, Discover Magazine, 26 Sep. 2022
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Today's Headlines Tardigrades, or water bears, are known for being basically indestructible.
—Alex Baker-Whitcomb, WIRED, 5 Aug. 2019
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'water bear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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