The dot will now be part of an experiment by astronauts on the International Space Station (analog)
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Paris:
Astronauts on the International Space Station will welcome an unusual guest, as the Blob will launch into orbit on Tuesday.
An alien on its planet, the Blob is an unclassifiable organism – neither a fish nor a bird. It’s also not a plant, animal, or fungus.
Thus, Physarum polycephalum – a type of sticky fungus – has long fascinated scientists and will now be part of a unique experiment carried out simultaneously by astronauts hundreds of kilometers above Earth and hundreds of thousands of French school students.
Sticky fungi first appeared on Earth about 500 million years ago, and defy conventional biology because they consist of a single cell with multiple nuclei.
While most organisms grow and reproduce through cell division and reproduction, Physarum polycephalum does not.
“This is a single cell that grows without ever dividing,” explains Pierre Ferrand, a professor of earth and life sciences on loan at the French space agency CNES, one of the people behind the project.
Another oddity: “When most organisms are content with two species, Blobs have more than 720. These are ‘drawer’ organisms that tell us that life is made up of many species,” he said.
What can a single cell do?
A mass of yellow, spongy, sticky mold having no mouth, feet, or brain.
However, despite these obvious drawbacks, mushrooms eat, grow and move – albeit very slowly – and have amazing learning abilities.
Because Blob DNA floats freely within the cell wall – rather than being contained in the nucleus – it can “get rid of” parts of it at will.
It can also go into an inactive state due to dehydration – which is called “sclerosis”.
And there are plenty of solid pieces that will begin their journey aboard cargo ships to refuel on the International Space Station.
After rehydration in September, the four sclera—each about the size of a medium little finger—will be awakened from their hibernation in a bed of Petri dishes.
The samples – both from the same “original Blob” (described by scientists as LU352) – will be subject to two protocols: one that will remove certain food sub-clots; Others will be able to find a food source – oatmeal porridge.
The goal is to observe the weightless effect on these organisms – but as an educational experiment, a giant school experiment that reaches into outer space. No scientific papers are expected as part of the mission design.
“No one knows how it behaves in a microgravity environment: In which direction will it move? Does it take up the third dimension up, or sideways?” asked Veran.
“I wonder if it would have evolved through flower stalk formation,” said Blob specialist Audrey Desoutour, director of the Animal Cognition Research Center in Toulouse.
Meanwhile, on Earth, thousands of sample pieces of the same strain LU352 will be distributed to about 4,500 schools and colleges in France.
“More than 350,000 students will ‘touch’ the dot,” said Kristen Koresher, who directs the space agency’s education programme.
At the end of this month, teachers will receive sets of three to five hardenings.
When the point division in space is revived, their group will also be hydrated on the ground.
Observations would then begin to compare the differences in how the samples adapted in space compared to those on Earth – potentially shedding light on fundamental questions surrounding the basic building blocks of life.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by the NDTV crew and published from a syndicated feed.)
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