SEPIOLIDS. IN. SPAAAAAAACE.

Joined
Apr 19, 2010
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478
Tony's twitter had this link on it, and it was intriguing enough that I clicked it.

Squids In Space--Seriously

Dr. Danna Staaf (a newly-minted PhD fresh out of the Gilly Lab whom I've had the pleasure to chat with a few times) mentions that Dr. Jamie Foster is about to send juvenile Euprymna scolopes sepiolids on the Space Shuttle Endeavor for observation of development of their microbial communities in orbit.

What do you think she expects to see? (Brains being my field more than bacteria. )
 
I am curious on how they will monitor the effects. It is my understanding that water is something of a problem sans gravity so the process of examining the squid while in space seems like an obstical that would involve interesting techniques.
 
Well, water basically forms a sphere.

Cells often display gravitropic effects, and bacteria are probably no different, though I need to learn more about how gravity triggers these changes since there is almost certainly a chemical or electrical component.

How will they tease these effects out from whatever effects the microgravity has on the juvenile squid, though?
 
It has been a long time since I read anything about liquid without gravity but I seem to recall from early eating experiments that it breaks up easily (ie will form small bubble/spheres with a slight disturbance and does not go want to go back together). In the early days of space, there was concern about the astronauts drowning if liquid was lose in the cabin. This concern may have been dispelled with the amount of time we have in space now.
 

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