对于活着，水熊虫不是说说而已

缓步动物水熊虫是一种微小的水栖生物，它的体长一般不超过1毫米，看起来非常像一个有着八条腿的皱皮袋。

不过虽然水熊虫的外形惹人发笑，但它们顽强的生命力却不得不让人叹服。

But while their appearance invites amusing comparisons, it is their hardiness that has inspired awe.

这种生物对恶劣环境的抗受能力极强，无论是高山的顶峰、灼热的沙漠，还是南极冰川下的湖泊，都曾发现过它们的踪迹。

They have been found on mountain tops, in scorching deserts, and lurking in subglacial lakes in Antarctica.

卡尔·舒克博士在其著作《动物的潜藏能力》中表示，即使在液氮中冻结或是在149 ̊C的高温中煮沸，水熊虫仍然可以存活下来。除此之外，它们还可以在脱水沉睡多年后重新苏醒，最深的马里亚纳海沟水压的6倍压不扁它，5700戈瑞强度的放射线也杀不死它，要知道10-20戈瑞的放射线就足以夺去人类和大多数动物的生命了。

In his book The Hidden Powers of Animals, Dr.Karl Shuker claimed the beasts survived being frozen in liquid helium and being boiled at 149 ̊C. They can also dry out and revive years later and stand pressures six times those found in the Mariana Trench, and tolerate 5,700 grays of radiation, when 10-20 grays would kill humans and most other animals.

水熊虫之所以有如此强悍的生命力，在于它能排出体内几乎所有的水分并大幅降低自身的新陈代谢，最后皱缩成一粒“豌豆种子”。借助这种休眠的状态，水熊虫得以在各种极端致命的环境中存活下来，在这期间，它们还会生成蛋白质来保护它们的细胞。

The tardigrade’s secret is the ability to shrivel into a seed-like pod, expelling nearly all of its water and slashing its metabolism. In this way, the animals can  survive conditions that would normally be swiftly fatal, while they also produce proteins to protect their cells.

2007年，科学家们发现蛰伏状态下的水熊虫极其坚忍，这种能力让它们可以在太空的严酷辐射以及寒冷真空中取得生机。

In 2007, scientists discovered that inactive tardigrades are so tough they can survive the harsh radiation and frigid vacuum of space travel.

如今人们又发现了水熊虫的另一种自我保护机制，印度的研究人员称他们发现了一种新属科水熊虫并将其命名为“Paramacrobiotus BLR”（后文简称BLR水熊虫），这种新型水熊虫可以抵抗紫外线的杀菌作用。

Now another protective mechanism has been discovered. Researchers from India have reported finding a new genus — dubbed 'Paramacrobiotus BLR' — which can resist germicidal levels of UV exposure.

究其原因，原来是BLR水熊虫皮肤下的一组荧光色素充当了“防护罩”，它吸收了有害的紫外线辐射，然后将其转化为无害的蓝光并释放出来。

It does this by employing a protective fluorescent shield that absorbs the damaging ultraviolet radiation and emits it back out as harmless blue light.

来自印度科学研究所的桑迪普·埃斯瓦拉帕是这项研究报告的合著者，他说：“我们的研究表明，BLR水熊虫凭借着这种技能，可以在地球上最干燥、阳光最强烈的地方生活。”

“Our study suggests that [these creatures] can survive in the driest and sunniest places on Earth,” said Dr. Sandeep Eswarappa, co-author of the research from the Indian Institute of Science.

在《生物学快报》上，埃斯瓦拉帕和他的同事叙述了这一发现的经过，他们是在研究所一个混凝土墙上的苔藓里发现新型水熊虫的。

在实验中，研究人员发现，把BLR水熊虫暴露在紫外线下照射十五分钟以后，这种可以轻易杀死另一类名为H. exemplaris水熊虫的辐射强度竟然没有伤到BLR水熊虫分毫，它们不仅存活了下来，还发出令人惊讶的蓝光。

The researchers found that when they exposed Paramacrobiotus to UV radiation for 15 minutes — enough to kill another tardigrade species, H. exemplaris — the new genus not only survived, but surprisingly emitted a blue glow.

为了进一步探索，该团队从BLR水熊虫中提取了这些荧光色素，并用它们来包裹对紫外线辐射敏感的H.exemplaris水熊虫。结果显示，这些提取物确实起到了一定的保护作用，有大约一半的实验样本在几天后仍然活着。

To explore further, the team created an extract from the new species, and covered the UV-sensitive tardigrades, H.exemplaris, with this fluorescent substance. The results show the extract provided at least some protection, with around half the H.exemplaris tardigrades still alive several days later. 

埃斯瓦拉帕同样惊奇于这种发现，他说：“虽然自然界中还有其他物种可以抵御紫外线的侵袭，但BLR水熊虫却是唯一一种用荧光色素来对抗致命紫外线辐射的生物。

Eswarappa said the findings were a surprise. “There are other species that show UV tolerance, but [the new species] is the only one with fluorescence as a mechanism to resist lethal UV radiation,” he said.

乌卡斯·卡兹马雷克是波兰亚当·密凯维奇大学的水熊虫研究专家，他并没有参与这项研究，

但他说这类研究都表明，水熊虫体内的某些物质或许可以保护其他生物免受恶劣环境的伤害。

Dr. Łukasz Kaczmarek, an expert in tardigrades from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poland, who was not involved in the research, said the study joined previous work showing the potential use of substances produced by tardigrades to protect other organisms from harmful environmental conditions.

此外，埃斯瓦拉帕还打算进行更多的实验，同时把他的发现运用于更广泛的领域。按照他的话来说，如果可以从这些会发光的水熊虫身上提取出荧光物质并大量合成，那么这些荧光物质将很有可能被用于防晒霜的生产上。

What’s more, Eswarappa said he plans to conduct additional experiments and possibly apply his discovery on a much larger scale. If synthesized in large amounts, the fluorescent extract made from the glowing tardigrade, he said, could potentially become a sunscreen for humans.

未来科学家们甚至还可以借助这一发现，研发出能预防紫外线伤害的材料，并在烈日工作服、太空服中找到应用空间。