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  • "A naturalist is considered someone who prefers to hang around without clothes."

  • You're on to me, Johnny Bonehead.

  • I'm Mike Shaw here with Motherboard, and we're here to

  • respond to the video First Animal to Survive in Space.

  • We were really floored by all the comments--

  • 20,000 and growing.

  • And keep those comments coming, we do appreciate it.

  • I'm very grateful for the response.

  • And now let's get to some of your questions and comments.

  • "This stuff ain't new.

  • I saw a special on these things four years ago on

  • Discovery Channel.

  • Why these just coming to light?" TJtheEditor.

  • Well, we're just adding to the discussion.

  • People want to hear about tardigrades, they want to hear

  • about space.

  • And any time you talk about this type of topic, it spurs

  • interest because we all want to know how we got here.

  • So let me talk about some of the science versus religion

  • comments, I think that might be interesting.

  • Jubba explains that the purpose "of life is to

  • propagate itself." Hm, there's an idea.

  • And chickenfingers123, he clarifies entropy theory

  • verses the biblical age of the earth.

  • For me, there's really only one question about the

  • universe and its origins, and that is why is

  • there anything at all?

  • In other words, why is there something rather than nothing?

  • And by nothing, I don't mean vacuum, or space--

  • I mean nothing.

  • So just think about that for a second, let it sink in.

  • There is something--

  • there's matter, there's us, there's conversation, there's

  • stars and galaxies.

  • Why is there something rather than nothing at all?

  • All of the great religions, they all at least attempt to

  • tell us why there is something.

  • Religion tells us why, science tells us how.

  • "The dangerous tests on these animals disgusts me.

  • Tardigrades need rights, too." And that was

  • answered "I know, right?

  • Maybe tardigrades don't want to be subjected to extreme

  • temperatures and being tossed in space!"

  • You know what?

  • You're onto something here.

  • I don't think they want that at all, no.

  • I can't tell you what they do want, but

  • they don't want that.

  • Now, just keep one thing in mind, that tardigrades go into

  • kind of a suspended animation called cryptobiosis, and they

  • probably don't feel a thing.

  • So they don't care whether they're being subjected to

  • x-rays and vacuum and radiation.

  • To them, it's just like another hot day.

  • Here's a good one.

  • "If students consistently come late to class, it will

  • detrimentally affect their tardy grade."

  • Love that, love that.

  • One million monologues, you have a good sense of humor.

  • And by the way, I used to be in the hot dog business, but I

  • didn't relish it.

  • One of the questions was "Why talk about

  • tardigrades from space?

  • Evidence shows that they're related to earth creatures."

  • That's from Philip Hedden.

  • That's a great question, because that's very true.

  • Most of the evidence, especially DNA evidence which

  • we have now and we didn't have in the past, shows that

  • they're either related to Arthropods, Nematodes, which

  • are those little round worms.

  • Arthropods would be ticks and water

  • mites, little tiny creatures.

  • So they probably are related to

  • creatures that are on earth.

  • So the question is, again, did tardigrades come from space?

  • If there was a fragment of DNA that arrived here on a comet

  • or a meteor and that evolved into all life, including

  • tardigrades, then yeah, tardigrades came from space.

  • So that's one way to look at it.

  • OK, one nice comment which, I don't know how it was meant,

  • but I know how I took it.

  • Danielvincentkelley made a rather long comment.

  • And at the end he said "Dude should have a job packing

  • vans."

  • Well, I don't know if he meant that to be insulting or not.

  • If he was insulting me, I'm not insulted.

  • I think probably he might have been insulting

  • people who pack bags.

  • And this is a really good comment that hits home.

  • Because I think, again, it comes back to acceptance.

  • And whatever we do in jobs or in our life, if we can accept

  • it we'll find that there's a lot more happiness involved.

  • And it really doesn't matter what you do when you're in a

  • state of acceptance.

  • That just about wraps it up in terms of responding to most of

  • the comments that I could.

  • And I would just like to say that I really appreciate the

  • feedback and the interaction.

  • I just want to thank you again, all of you, for that.

  • And I look forward to seeing you again sometime.

"A naturalist is considered someone who prefers to hang around without clothes."

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