Plants grow normally in a reduced gravity environment
New Discovery Opens Doors to Space Growing Possibilities
If our attitudes do not change, the effects of human action on the planet may end up condemning us to no longer being able to live on it. But not everything is lost. Research by a team at the University of Florida, Gainesville, found that plants can grow normally in a zero-gravity environment.
The research was conducted at the International Space Station and monitored at Kennedy Space Center and consisted of observing the growth of a plant (Arabidopsis thaliana), from its planting in clear petri dishes from a gel rich in nutrients to its flowering. The big surprise was the fact that the plant, even though it was in space, passed without problems through stages of growth previously credited to the presence of gravity.
According to the researchers, even in the absence of gravity, other factors such as the search for moisture, nutrients and light may have been determinants of the plant's growth in a similar way to what it would grow on Earth.
This is only an initial study, but a first step towards discussing the feasibility of growing vegetables in conditions of microgravity outside the Earth, such as on a mission to Mars, or in reduced gravity environments such as greenhouses on Mars or the moon. Anyway, taking better care of the planet still seems to be the most viable.
Source: BMC Plant Biology.
