Some organisms just gotta live somewhere different to the rest of us.
As you read this you're probably sitting in a nice comfy chair, inside a warm(ish) building and the worst you'll have to endure is the walk outside in the cold.
Extremophiles don't have it anywhere near as cushy as you do; instead having to survive in temperatures from up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (148.89 degrees Celsius) and down to almost absolute zero.
Some of them are even harder to kill than radio stars, living through multiple bombardments of radiation, being burnt alive, chucked into a vacuum and teased relentlessly.
With an uncanny ability to survive where we never expected to find anything at all, let alone anything alive, these critters are fascinating examples of the curveballs that evolution can throw.
Head over to i09 to see more Extremophiles, and watch the vid of the Tardigrade below - cute enough to hug (if only they were big enough).
Issue: 133 | February, 2012