NASA is launching 100 baby squids — and thousands of other organisms — into space for testing. Lets just hope it doesn't end like the classic NROL-39 badge.[*]
SpaceX’s 22nd Commercial Resupply Mission to Space Station Launches Water Bears, Squid, Solar Panels:
Water bears take on space
Tardigrades, known as water bears due to their appearance under a microscope and common habitat in water, are tiny creatures that tolerate environments more extreme than most life forms can. That makes them a model organism for studying biological survival under extreme conditions on Earth and in space. In addition, researchers have sequenced the genome of the tardigrade Hypsibius exemplaris and developed methods for measuring how different environmental conditions affect tardigrade gene expression. Cell Science-04 characterizes the molecular biology of short-term and multigenerational survival of water bears, identifying the genes involved in adaptation and survival in high stress environments.
The results could advance understanding of the stress factors affecting humans in space and support development of countermeasures. “Spaceflight can be a really challenging environment for organisms, including humans, who have evolved to the conditions on Earth,” says principal investigator Thomas Boothby. “One of the things we are really keen to do is understand how tardigrades are surviving and reproducing in these environments and whether we can learn anything about the tricks that they are using and adapt them to safeguard astronauts.”
Symbiotic squid and microbes in microgravity
UMAMI examines the effects of spaceflight on the molecular and chemical interactions between beneficial microbes and their animal hosts. Microbes play a significant role in the normal development of animal tissues and in maintaining human health. “Animals, including humans, rely on our microbes to maintain a healthy digestive and immune system,” says UMAMI principal investigator Jamie Foster. “We do not fully understand how spaceflight alters these beneficial interactions. The UMAMI experiment uses a glow-in-the-dark bobtail squid to address these important issues in animal health.”
The bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, is an animal model that is used to study symbiotic relationships between two species. This investigation helps determine whether spaceflight alters the mutually beneficial relationship, which could support development of protective measures and mitigation to preserve astronaut health on long-duration space missions. The work also could lead to a better understanding of the complex interactions between animals and beneficial microbes, including new and novel pathways that microbes use to communicate with animal tissues. Such knowledge could help identify ways to protect and enhance these relationships for better human health and well-being on Earth as well.
[*] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/NROL_39_vector_logo.svg
Also at BBC.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @03:15AM (1 child)
LiCK it and STiCK IT
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @03:32AM
Alrighty. Spread'em.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @03:41AM
N/T
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @04:08AM
I just had it with the mutherfucking squids on this motherfucking space tincan.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @06:07AM
I, for one, welcome our cephalop astronauts, like I would of any phylum. If only it had been voluntary. But then, that might be a problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @08:48AM (1 child)
the number one stress factor for those living in space is the lack of gravity.
what's so hard about splitting the future ISS in half and making the two bits rotate around the center? if the rope is a few hundred meters long, then the resulting centrifugal forces should be uniform enough within the living spaces for people to accept the gradients (after all, our brains can handle tree climbing and swimming).
it's absurd, the way they keep ignoring this option.
next space problem is radiation, and then limited ecosystem etc. those are a bit harder to tackle, but a lot easier if you have gravity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @08:12PM
maybe i am just talking rubbish, but i think nobody drives eeeexxxtraa slow on their trip to their holiday destination.
methinks we are just stuck in boring old orbit 'cause we can't go anywhere fast (and reliable).
sure sure, it's "interesting" to float around in zero-G but that's like saying that the trip to the beach (which we cannot get to as of now) was the most interesting part of the holidays.
in short: not sure "floating around" is the main goal of space-travel; maybe more digging and selfies on mount olympus?
which brings me to: experiment number 53'472-b of trying to "somehow" get from A to B without mass-ejection ... which is like 53'471 experiments short.
enjoy the cotton-wrapped squid!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 04 2021, @03:49PM
And I wonder about the thing living under my house...