NASA sends Hawaiian squid into space | Colorado Springs News – Honolulu, Hawaii – Honolulu, Hawaii

Dozens of Baby Squids Hawaii It was launched into space this month.

NASA sent 128 Hawaiian Bobtails to the International Space Station on June 3 as part of the SpaceX replenishment mission. Scientists have studied how they interact with natural bacteria under low-gravity conditions.

“We have found that the symbiosis between humans and microorganisms is being confused by microgravity,” he said. Said University of Hawaii Professor Margaret McFaul Nai Florida Professor Jamie Foster would like to see a similar phenomenon in cuttlefish..

The experiment is part of the NASAUnderstanding Microgravity in Animal-Microbe Interactions or Umami program.

Foster worked with NASA to send squids into space. Similar experiment in 2011.

Squids that grow to be around 3 inches long have bacteria in their bodies that regulate bioluminescence. In the wild, they camouflage themselves in moonlight and starlight and create a glow to hide from sea predators.

When an octopus hatches in the ocean, there are 4 million bacterial cells per square inch around the octopus, according to McFall-Ngai, but among the millions of other microorganisms it is of bioluminescent quality. .. We are aware of the specific symbiotic biodiversity that regulates.

The squid can be seen at the Honolulu Institute on June 11, 2021. Dozens of baby squids from Hawaii are in space for research. Hawaiian baby Bob Teirica grew up at the University of Hawaii’s Kewalo Marine Research Institute and was launched earlier this month on a SpaceX supply mission to the International Space Station. (Via Craig T. Kojima, Honolulu Star Advertiser AP) Craig T. Kojima / AP

The human immune system also identifies beneficial bacteria from dangerous bacteria, but the process is confusing to astronauts due to stressors such as radiation and microgravity. The immune system will not function normally again until the astronaut returns to Earth. From To NASA Research.

“When astronauts spend more time in space, their immune system is so-called dysregulated and no longer functions. Your immune system doesn’t recognize bacteria easily. You are sick sometimes. “I will,” said Foster.

Researchers are the first to expose cuttlefish that have hatched in a controlled laboratory environment to bacteria. 12 hours after the scientists integrate symbiotic organisms, the organism will be frozen and tested at the molecular level when it returns to Earth in July.

Understanding what happens to squid and its bacteria can improve astronauts’ health, Foster says, and send them on missions longer than NASA’s stay on the International Space Station for a year. Can become.

For more information on the Washington Examiner, click here

“There are aspects of the immune system that don’t work properly on long haul flights. If people want to spend time on the Moon or Mars to get there safely, you need to solve your health problems. “”

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