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First Green Leaf on Moon Dies as Temperatures Plummet

posted by mrpg on Friday January 18 2019, @01:30PM   
from the don't-lose-hope-humans! dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

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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Original Submission

• Re:No one will be living on the moon (Score: 3, Interesting) by deimtee on Saturday January 19 2019, @02:12AM

  by deimtee (3272) on Saturday January 19 2019, @02:12AM (#788508) Journal

  The gp post in this thread posited dropping an AI on the moon and having it build a city, and then asked what you could use the city for.
  To be honest, I expect that by the time a retirement home on the moon would be viable, it would also be superfluous due to things like SENS.
  Single large advances in tech make for reasonable SF stories, but in real life advances in other fields occur contemporaneously and can totally change the effect of the advance. Decrepit old people in advanced future societies is just unrealistic. There may be some limit to how long the brain can work, but right up until the end it will be housed in a body that is fit, healthy and apparently young.

  --
  If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.

  Parent

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