Philosophy
A zebra spider spins no webs, but instead catches its prey by leaping onto it. But in space, a zebra spider would zip off in a straight line instead of a trajectory curved by gravity, missing its target.
Amr Mohamed, an 18-year-old student from Alexandria, Egypt, wondered if the spider could learn and adjust.
“If they can catch their prey in microgravity, it’s going to be evolutionary,” Mr. Mohamed said, “because it’s going to be the first time in history that an animal changes and adapts its hunting way to the zero-gravity environment.”
Soon he, and the rest of the world, will find out.
Mr. Mohamed’s idea is one of the two global winners of Space Lab, a competition run by YouTube, Google’s video site; Lenovo, the computer manufacturer; and Space Adventures, a space tourism company. Students ages 14 to 18 from around the world were invited to make videos pitching a science experiment to be conducted on the International Space Station.
Two 16-year-olds from Troy, Mich., Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma, formed the other winning team, with an experiment that will look at whether a fungus-killing bacterium will become even more effective at killing fungus when it gets back from a trip that will make it temporarily weightless. Scientists already know that salmonella bacteria become more virulent in zero gravity, and the bacterium in their experiment, Bacillus subtilis, contains the same protein that caused that change in salmonella.
“The idea, that having your experiment in the space station, is so surreal and so literally out of this world,” said Ms. Chen shortly after the winners were announced on Thursday.
As for the zebra spiders, Mr. Mohamed does not think they will figure out how to catch fruit flies in space. These spiders do not spin webs, but they do attach a silk lifeline to themselves before leaping; this will allow them to reel themselves in and try again and again to aim themselves at fruit flies sharing their space station habitat.
Both experiments are already being designed and constructed at BioServe Space Technologies, a research center run by the University of Colorado at Boulder, and are scheduled to fly to the space station on a cargo ship launched by the Japanese space agency. Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut, is to perform the experiments, which will be broadcast online.
For their grand prize, Ms. Chen and Ms. Ma will go to Japan for the launching of their experiment. Mr. Mohamed chose the other option: He will go to Star City in Russia for a week of the same training that Russian astronauts undergo.
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Philosophy
Zebra spiders and fungus-killing bacterium to visit the ISS
Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma
"Space Lab Contest Picks Experiments Featuring Spiders and Bacteria"
by
Kenneth Chang
March 22nd, 2012
The New York Times
"Space Lab Contest Picks Experiments Featuring Spiders and Bacteria"
by
Kenneth Chang
March 22nd, 2012
The New York Times
A zebra spider spins no webs, but instead catches its prey by leaping onto it. But in space, a zebra spider would zip off in a straight line instead of a trajectory curved by gravity, missing its target.
Amr Mohamed, an 18-year-old student from Alexandria, Egypt, wondered if the spider could learn and adjust.
“If they can catch their prey in microgravity, it’s going to be evolutionary,” Mr. Mohamed said, “because it’s going to be the first time in history that an animal changes and adapts its hunting way to the zero-gravity environment.”
Soon he, and the rest of the world, will find out.
Mr. Mohamed’s idea is one of the two global winners of Space Lab, a competition run by YouTube, Google’s video site; Lenovo, the computer manufacturer; and Space Adventures, a space tourism company. Students ages 14 to 18 from around the world were invited to make videos pitching a science experiment to be conducted on the International Space Station.
Two 16-year-olds from Troy, Mich., Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma, formed the other winning team, with an experiment that will look at whether a fungus-killing bacterium will become even more effective at killing fungus when it gets back from a trip that will make it temporarily weightless. Scientists already know that salmonella bacteria become more virulent in zero gravity, and the bacterium in their experiment, Bacillus subtilis, contains the same protein that caused that change in salmonella.
“The idea, that having your experiment in the space station, is so surreal and so literally out of this world,” said Ms. Chen shortly after the winners were announced on Thursday.
As for the zebra spiders, Mr. Mohamed does not think they will figure out how to catch fruit flies in space. These spiders do not spin webs, but they do attach a silk lifeline to themselves before leaping; this will allow them to reel themselves in and try again and again to aim themselves at fruit flies sharing their space station habitat.
Both experiments are already being designed and constructed at BioServe Space Technologies, a research center run by the University of Colorado at Boulder, and are scheduled to fly to the space station on a cargo ship launched by the Japanese space agency. Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut, is to perform the experiments, which will be broadcast online.
For their grand prize, Ms. Chen and Ms. Ma will go to Japan for the launching of their experiment. Mr. Mohamed chose the other option: He will go to Star City in Russia for a week of the same training that Russian astronauts undergo.
- The 70 Million Does Include A Bag Of Nuts
"Russia Hikes Price for Space Rides to $70 Million" by Irene Klotz May 1st, 2013 Discovery Communications Unsure when U.S. companies will be ready to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA has signed up for six more rides with the...
- Chinese Women In Space...married, Of Course
What a strange statement... "We believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature," Zhang said. "China to Send First (Married) Female Astronauts to Space in 2012" by Sara Yin October 31st, 2011 PCmag China may be launching its...
- Mark Your Calendar...2020...iss Scuttled
"ISS to be sunk after 2020: Russian space agency" July 27th, 2011 Space & Earth / Space Exploration Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to...
- Case In Point--privatization Of Nasa
Crew Space Transportation-100 [CST-100] "Boeing unveils its commercial capsule spacecraft" July 22nd, 2010 PhysOrg.com Boeing won an award worth $18 million from NASA under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement, which was intended...
- When Iss Is Completed...then What?
A waste of money. "After space station is built, what will ISS crew do up there?" For years to come, the International Space Station will be the site for experiments benefiting earth research and extended space flight. by Peter N. Spotts November 29th,...