The little bear is a clumsy, cold-blooded, and gentle creature; it regards the inhabitants of its droplet with the same indifference as a lion does a puppy. This flowery yet quite accurate description from the 18th century refers to a water bear, one of those fascinating organisms that some have heard of, but few have seen, and with which only a handful of specialists have engaged in depth. The multicellular water bears (tardigrades), which can grow up to 1.5 mm long and whose classification within the animal kingdom is still disputed, inhabit gap systems in all kinds of water bodies, in soil, and in plant cushions, as long as these are filled with water. Many of them survive dry periods in a state of latent life, in which they can endure extreme environmental conditions with almost no water.