The desert moss Syntrichia caninervis is a promising candidate for Mars colonization thanks to its extreme ability to tolerate harsh conditions lethal to most life forms.
The moss is well known for its ability to tolerate drought conditions, but researchers now report that it can also survive freezing temperatures as low as 196 C, high levels of gamma radiation, and simulated Martian conditions involving these three stressors combined. In all cases, prior dehydration seemed to help the plants cope.is a promising candidate for Mars colonization thanks to its extreme ability to tolerate harsh conditions lethal to most life forms.
The moss also demonstrated the ability to survive gamma radiation exposure that would kill most plants, and doses of 500 Gy even seemed to promote the plants' growth. For comparison, humans experience severe convulsions and death when exposed to around 50 Gy."Our results indicate thatFinally, the researchers tested the moss's ability to endure Mars-like conditions using the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Planetary Atmospheres Simulation Facility.
Xiaoshuang Li, Wenwan Bai, Qilin Yang, Benfeng Yin, Zhenlong Zhang, Banchi Zhao, Tingyun Kuang, Yuanming Zhang, Daoyuan Zhang.As deserts expanded their range over the past 5-7 million years, many plants invaded the new biome and rapidly diversified, producing amazing adaptations to drought and heat. Can plants continue to ...
Extreme Survival Nature Botany Mars NASA Space Missions Space Exploration
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chinese officials’ attempt to ‘block’ formerly detained journalist mars Australia goodwill tourApparent efforts by Chinese officials to stand in front of Cheng Lei during a news briefing shone a spotlight back on frictions between the countries.
Read more »
Why a new method of growing food on Mars matters more on EarthTurns out growing crops on the Red Planet is a lot like growing food on a climate-ravaged Earth.
Read more »
Mars Mission Study Reveals New Jeopardy for Human Body'While an astronaut could make it to Mars, they might need dialysis on the way back,' researcher Keith Siew said.
Read more »
Doctor Who: Tales of the TARDIS Tackles 'Pyramids of Mars' on ThursdayIn 1911, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane discover an ancient and powerful evil on the verge of escaping its prison. Can they stop it before it brings death to all humanity...? Subscribe to Doctor Who for more exclusive videos: http://bit.ly/SubscribeToDoctorWho WATCH MORE: Compilations: http://bit.ly/DWCompilations Regenerations: http://bit.
Read more »
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover enters new Red Planet territory: 'Bright Angel'Rahul Rao is a graduate of New York University's SHERP and a freelance science writer, regularly covering physics, space, and infrastructure. His work has appeared in Gizmodo, Popular Science, Inverse, IEEE Spectrum, and Continuum. He enjoys riding trains for fun, and he has seen every surviving episode of Doctor Who.
Read more »
NASA rover discovers mysterious light-toned boulder 'never observed before' on MarsNASA's Perseverance rover discovered a mysterious boulder that stood out in a field of rocks while exploring a crater on Mars.
Read more »