Life in the dark and deep
There are plenty of places on Earth that seem alien to us. The deep sea is a perfect example: it’s been said that we know more about Mars than we do about the bottom of the ocean. Hydrothermal vent communities weren’t discovered until 1977, well after the first landings on Mars. Scientists believed that the…
Skin was the first organ to evolve
In the evolution of organs, skin came first. The discovery that even sponges have a proto-skin shows that the separation of insides from outsides in multicellular animals was key to their evolution. It has been known since the 1960s that sponges have a distinct outer layer of cells, or epithelium. But because sponges lack the…
Extraterrestrial farmers to raise grain without soil?
If humans are to colonize space, how will we manage sustainable agriculture? Enter the science of aeroponics. If you were to attempt to raise a garden utilizing only lunar or Martian soil, chances are that your precious plants would either die a horrible death or survive albeit malnourished. While there are probably exceptions to this…