Abstract

Quantum and biological systems are seldom discussed together as they seemingly demand opposing conditions. Life is complex, “hot and wet” whereas quantum objects are small, cold, and well controlled. We can overcome this barrier with an organism able to tolerate the stringent conditions that quantum experiments operate in. One such candidate is the tardigrade, a microscopic multicellular organism known to tolerate extreme physicochemical conditions via a latent state of life known as cryptobiosis. By positioning a tardigrade in cryptobiosis near a superconducting quantum bit, we observe coupling between the animal and the qubit. In addition, a highly entangled state between this combined system and another qubit was prepared, with the tardigrade shown to be entangled with the remaining subsystems via electric field coupling. The animal is then observed to return to its active form after 420 hours at sub 10 mK temperatures and pressures below 6 X 10 ^{-6} mbar, setting a record for the conditions that a complex form of life can survive.