24 August 2019 | New Scientist | 21SPHERICAL FLAMES
On Earth, hot gas tends to rise.
Not so in space, with interesting
implications for fire. NASA studied
this in its Flame Extinguishment
Experiment aboard the
International Space Station
(ISS) in 2009. One part of the
experiment tested how liquid
fuels burn in a sealed chamber.
It confirmed that droplets did so
in a sphere, with flames pointing
in all directions. It also found that
combustion happens more slowly
and at cooler temperatures in
microgravity, and that more
material is needed to put fires out.DARK MATTER HUNTER
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
is a doughnut-shaped detector
strapped to the ISS that measures
particles hitting it from space. In2013, it spotted an unexpected
number of antimatter particles
called positrons. These may
have been created by dark matter
particles annihilating one another,
meaning that studying the
positrons more closely could tell us
more about dark matter. There are
more mundane explanations for
the positrons, however, such as
spinning stars called pulsars. The
detector could operate for years
yet and not provide a firm answer.SPACE GARDEN
It would be useful to grow plants
in space as a source of food and
oxygen. For a long time, it was
unclear how they would perform
in low gravity. That’s one reason
why astronauts have been
growing plants in the ISS’s Lada
greenhouse since 2002. Theresearch has been remarkably
successful, showing that plants
don’t need gravity to thrive. In
2015, astronauts ate lettuce
grown and harvested in space
for the first time. We have even
sprouted cotton seeds on the
moon, aboard China’s Chang’e 4
lander, although the plants died
almost immediately.SQUID THAT REALLY FLOAT
It isn’t just dogs that have been
put in space. In 2014, a group
from the University of Florida sent
three squid to the ISS along with
luminescent bacteria to test how
microgravity affects the way
beneficial microbes interact with
living tissue. The bacteria were
able to colonise the squid, but we
don’t yet know what this might
mean for human health.The most interesting experiments in space
Longer term, having the brands
we encounter all the time in space
could make it feel less cold and
sterile, and more familiar. If a
Toyota is driving around on
the moon, we might be able to
imagine a city there. If astronauts
can play with the same slime as
children’s entertainers, kids might
imagine themselves doing so in
orbit, too. Having brands in space
could normalise human activity
up there.
“It’s about making what we
know to be the human experience
translatable to space,” says space
consultant Laura Forczyk.
In principle, then, the brands
in space could benefit everyone.
Brands get good PR, NASA gets
paid and the rest of us get an
opportunity to dream about a
home far from home. If the space
economy continues to grow, that
dream may someday come true. ❚survive in space and so may now
be living, more or less, on the
moon. Agencies like NASA take
great care to sterilise spacecraft
so that other places are shielded
from Earth’s living things.
The marketing plans could
also backfire on the companies.
“A failing Toyota part on a critical
piece of equipment or slime
gumming up a piece of equipment
on the ISS would create negative
publicity,” says Drew Martin,
who studies marketing at the
University of South Carolina.a laboratory in space while using
the lion’s share of the money it
currently spends on the ISS on
bigger and better things. Like
going back to the moon, and then
on to Mars.
“This is all an experiment,
but it is an absolutely necessary
one,” says Mary Lynne Dittmar
at the Coalition for Deep Space
Exploration advocacy group.
“If there is to be any possibility
of sustained economic activity in
low Earth orbit, the ISS is the only
means at present to explore this.”
There are potential downsides
to the further privatisation of
space. It may mean less stringent
regulation. Earlier this month,
news emerged that the Israel-
made Beresheet spacecraft
brought thousands of tiny
organisms called tardigrades with
it when it crash-landed on the
moon in April. These creatures can▲ Mice
A new mouse for your PC.
Researchers say that mice
(yup rodents) could help
spot AI-made fake videos.▲ Albums
It’s a long way to the top...
except for hit albums. Hits
no longer climb through
the charts. Instead they
reach number 1 in the
first week or not at all.▲ Speedy bikes
Neil Campbell smashed
the men’s cycling speed
world record by reaching
280 kilometres per hour.
His secret? Being tugged
by a Porsche just before
the speed gun clocked him.▼ Bolsonaro
Brazil’s president, Jair
Bolsonaro, says we should
“poop every other day”
to save the planet, an idea
that should be quickly
flushed down the toilet.▼ Fridge tweets
Cold off the press. A story
that went viral of a teen
using a smart fridge to
tweet about her phone
being confiscated turns
out not to be true.Working
hypothesis
Sorting the week’s
supernovae from
the absolute zerosMore Insight online
Your guide to a rapidly changing world
newscientist.com/insightSlime ping-
pong anyone?
If kids see
familiar
products in
space, it could
feel more
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