Scientists Launching Blob the Slime Mold Into Space
upstart writes:
Scientists launching Blob the slime mold into space:
Blob is a naturally occurring slime mold with the scientific name Physarum polycephalum. But the European Space Agency, which is sending Blob to the ISS so it can be observed in microgravity, clearly understands that calling it by its nickname makes it way likelier the mold will snag a movie deal.
"Composed of just one cell, the brainless blob is still able to move, feed, organize itself and even transmit knowledge to like-minded slime molds," says the ESA
[...] Blob is scheduled to launch to the ISS on Aug. 10 on Northrop Grumman's 16th NASA commercial resupply mission. Once it arrives, ESA astronaut and space photographer Thomas Pesquet will add water to Blob to wake it up, and then he'll take pictures of it under two scientific protocols. One will study how two Blobs respond alongside each other in an environment without food. Another will analyze Blobs when food is available (oat flakes, naturally).
Primary, middle and high school students down on Earth will conduct similar experiments, comparing their results to a time-lapse video from space to observe differences in Blob's speed, shape and growth up there and down here.
[...] The experiment will last seven days. During that time, a four-second video of Blob will automatically be recorded on a micro SD-card every 10 minutes.
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