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First green leaf on moon dies as temperatures plummet
The appearance of a single green leaf hinted at a future in which astronauts would grow their own food in space, potentially setting up residence at outposts on the moon or other planets. Now, barely after it had sprouted, the cotton plant onboard China’s lunar rover has died.
The plant relied on sunlight at the moon’s surface, but as night arrived at the lunar far side and temperatures plunged as low as -170C, its short life came to an end.
Prof Xie Gengxin of Chongqing University, who led the design of the experiment, said its short lifespan had been anticipated. “Life in the canister would not survive the lunar night,” Xie said.
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First Green Leaf on Moon Dies as Temperatures Plummet
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Fascinating is a word I use for the unexpected.
-- Spock, "The Squire of Gothos", stardate 2124.5
(Score: 3, Informative) by maxwell demon on Friday January 18 2019, @03:38PM
Of course the nice thing about artificial lighting is that you can give each plant the lighting it likes best. If the plant needs a night, give it a night. If the plant grows best under 24/7 light, give it 24/7 light. And if it prefers different patterns at different development stages, just change the lighting pattern accordingly.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.