These fish were sent into space, and here's how they adapted to their new lives

The fish was sent to the space station. Several weeks after their arrival, they adapted well to their new environment.

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Humans are not the only species originating from Earth to leave the atmosphere of their home planet. Other organisms, whether microscopic or plant, have achieved this feat (with our help or by mistake). Recently, fish were sent into space to be studied. Such a radical change in the environment could have ended in disaster, but these small vertebrates have shown an amazing ability to adapt.

Space zebrafish

On April 25, a rocket blasted off toward the Tiangong space station with several special guests on board: three astronauts and several zebrafish. These aquatic animals were sent beyond the Earth's atmosphere in order to… To study the effect of microgravity on vertebrates.

In Tiangong, as in the International Space Station, it has an effect on the human body; The latter was not designed to survive in the universe. Microgravity also forces its victims to move differently. But what about aquatic organisms? Does microgravity affect them?

These fish have adapted to microgravity in their own way

The answer is yes. A month after arriving in space, the zebrafish, nicknamed “aquatic astronauts,” have already done so Adapt to their new spatial life.

according to Space.com website : “In the microgravity environment of Tiangong, the astronauts (…) observed that the zebrafish exhibited unusual directional behavior, such as upside-down swimming and rotary movements.

This species was chosen because of its relative genetic closeness to humans and the fact that its embryos are transparent, which facilitates its study. As Space.com adds, the “aquatic astronauts” were placed in a self-sufficient environment and:

“A self-sustaining aquatic ecosystem, in which algae and fish support each other, also has implications for understanding the challenges of maintaining life support systems for long-duration space missions and future space habitats.“.

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