?Watches, Stories, and Gear? is a roundup of our favorite content, watch or otherwise, from around the internet. Here, we support other creators, explore interesting content that inspires us, and put a spotlight on causes we believe in. Oh, and any gear we happen to be digging on this week. We love gear.
Share your story ideas or interesting finds with us by emailing our Managing Editor at [email protected]
This installment of ?Watches, Stories, and Gear? is brought to you by the Windup Watch Shop.

Pushing Tardigrades To Their Limits, For Science

Credit: Steve Gschmeissner / Getty

The tardigrade is basically the G-Shock of lifeforms on earth. The microscopic organisms are essentially indestructible, and over time it?s been proven that they can survive both boiling and ultra cold temps, an outer space environment, and water pressure equivalent to what you?d find at the bottom of the ocean. Their resilience to all things has led scientists to wonder whether tardigrades could survive interplanetary travel via an asteroid impact (this tests the principle of panspermia, or the idea that life could naturally cross-pollinate from planet to planet). How to test this" Obviously, you fire tardigrades from a gun, and see if they survive. It?s a crazy experiment, but what?s crazier is that the mighty but tiny tardigrades seem to do just fine as long as the speed didn?t literally rip them apart. Much more over at Vice right here.
Microsoft Is Finally 86ing ...