About this episode
Smaller than you can imagine. Potato-shaped. Mysterious. Misunderstood. And tough enough to survive the vacuum of space or decades of desiccation. Join professor and Tardigradologist Dr. Paul Bartels to saunter into a microscopic wonderland of bizarrely long naps, glow-in-the-dark moss piglets, cryptobiosis, kitten claws, balloon butts, and the friends living in your gutters.
Follow Dr. Bartels on ResearchGate and Google Scholar
A donation went to the Xerces Society
Full-length (*not* G-rated) Tardigradology episode + tons of science links
More kid-friendly Smologies episodes!
Become a patron of Ologies for as little as a buck a month
OlogiesMerch.com has hats, shirts, hoodies, totes!
Follow Ologies on Instagram and Bluesky
Follow Alie Ward on Instagram and TikTok
Sound editing by Mercedes Maitland of Maitland Audio Productions and Jake Chaffee
Made possible by work from Noel Dilworth, Susan Hale, Kelly R. Dwyer, Aveline Malek and Erin Talbert
Smologies theme song by Harold Malcolm
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Smologies with Alie Ward publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Smologies with Alie Ward
SQUIRRELS with Karen Munroe
Smologies with Alie Ward
BASKET WEAVING with James C. Bamba
Smologies with Alie Ward
JELLYFISH with Rebecca Helm
Smologies with Alie Ward
EARTH SAVING with Shah Selbe
Smologies with Alie Ward