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21/08/04/0445255 story

Scientists Launching Blob the Slime Mold Into Space

posted by martyb on Wednesday August 04 2021, @12:18PM   
from the sponge-blob-scares-plants? dept.

upstart writes:

Scientists launching Blob the slime mold into space:

Blob is a naturally occurring slime mold with the scientific name Physarum polycephalum. But the European Space Agency, which is sending Blob to the ISS so it can be observed in microgravity, clearly understands that calling it by its nickname makes it way likelier the mold will snag a movie deal.

"Composed of just one cell, the brainless blob is still able to move, feed, organize itself and even transmit knowledge to like-minded slime molds," says the ESA

[...] Blob is scheduled to launch to the ISS on Aug. 10 on Northrop Grumman's 16th NASA commercial resupply mission. Once it arrives, ESA astronaut and space photographer Thomas Pesquet will add water to Blob to wake it up, and then he'll take pictures of it under two scientific protocols. One will study how two Blobs respond alongside each other in an environment without food. Another will analyze Blobs when food is available (oat flakes, naturally).

Primary, middle and high school students down on Earth will conduct similar experiments, comparing their results to a time-lapse video from space to observe differences in Blob's speed, shape and growth up there and down here.

[...] The experiment will last seven days. During that time, a four-second video of Blob will automatically be recorded on a micro SD-card every 10 minutes.

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Original Submission

• Does that mean... Does that mean... (Score: 4, Touché) by Opportunist on Wednesday August 04 2021, @12:29PM (1 child)

  by Opportunist (5545) on Wednesday August 04 2021, @12:29PM (#1163011)

  ...we finally get to know what KSPs Mystery Goo [kerbalspaceprogram.com] is?

  • Re:Does that mean... (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @10:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @10:22PM (#1163260)

    This slime mold is delicious!

    Parent

• Will they bring it back? Will they bring it back? (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @01:28PM (2 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @01:28PM (#1163021)

  Steve McQueen is no longer around to save us.

  • Re:Will they bring it back? (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @01:46PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 04 2021, @01:46PM (#1163025)

    Chill out.

    Parent

  • Re:Will they bring it back? (Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday August 04 2021, @03:46PM

    by cmdrklarg (5048) on Wednesday August 04 2021, @03:46PM (#1163084)

    No problem, Kevin Dillon and Shawnee Smith are still around.

    --
    The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.

    Parent

• Rimuru, is that you? (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Wednesday August 04 2021, @03:10PM

  by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Wednesday August 04 2021, @03:10PM (#1163065) Journal

  There is a whole isekai anime about this universal slime mold, named That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime.
  It's all about... demons. Demons feeding on human souls.

  Example (7 minutes): Demon Lord Rimuru summons Diablo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRtj-Xvc8f0 [youtube.com]

  Well, Rimuru is generally overpowered in all aspects of his new existence...

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Time_I_Got_Reincarnated_as_a_Slime [wikipedia.org]
  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9054364/ [imdb.com]
  https://tensura.fandom.com/wiki/That_Time_I_Got_Reincarnated_as_a_Slime [fandom.com]

  So, a fundamental question arises:
  What could possibly go wronger at NASA?

  --
  Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.