China might just have grown the first plant ever on the moon

[Dryson]

Cotton seeds carried to the moon by a Chinese probe have sprouted, marking what could be the first plant to ever grow there, according to Chinese government images.

In making the announcement Tuesday, Chinese researchers released pictures from the probe showing the tiny plant growing in a small pot inside the spacecraft, hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from the Earth.
China became the first country to land a probe on the far side of the moon on January 3 when a rover named Yutu 2, or Jade Rabbit 2, touched down in the moon's largest and oldest impact crater, the South Pole-Aitken Basin.
The mission, titled Chang'e 4, is intended to accomplish a range of tasks, including conducting the first lunar low-frequency radio astronomy experiment and exploring whether there is water at the moon's poles.

Is anyone able to substantiate this article as factual?

If is it true then the U.S. is already behind colonization efforts by 20 years. The article does lend credit to the Chinese space exploration program while the U.S. space exploration program simply puts up glit and glam in the headlines over Space Force.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/15/...source=fbCNNi&utm_medium=social&utm_term=link

 

[XCV330]

Overly dramatic or trolling? There's no reason to take anything away from the Chinese achievement with their latest probe.

There's no real cotton-gap in space though. Multiple nations have been growing things outside of earth. For decades.

 

[Qonundrum]

The plant already died. I've not kept up on the mission, though the basic concept intrigues. If it was contained in a miniature biosphere that allows proper nutrients and gasses (the moon has no atmosphere as I recall), then the only remaining variables I can think of right now are are the reduced gravity and temperature factoring in. Maybe light exposure too, I'd have to read up on how fast the moon spins, but depending on length of there there might not be enough light for the plant to sustain itself, unless it hibernates... how fast can a plant adapt to new conditions, if possible, since the moon isn't exactly in Zone 5A as nobody's mapped it out yet... the only way to know is to try, see what happens, adapt, try again to rule out variables (was it a robust plant?), see what happens, try in another location, compare results, and so on and so forth.

And these experiments help set the stage for other environments, such as Mars, which does have an atmosphere but is colder. Not to mention terraforming, building a temperate zone to compensate for the distance from the sun and make a balance, etc, etc.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I gather the plants died of cold because there was no provision for keeping them warm during the 14-day long lunar night. I'm not really sure what was proved other that germination and initial growth happened in one sixth gravity.

 

[Dryson]

The plant already died. I've not kept up on the mission, though the basic concept intrigues. If it was contained in a miniature biosphere that allows proper nutrients and gasses (the moon has no atmosphere as I recall), then the only remaining variables I can think of right now are are the reduced gravity and temperature factoring in. Maybe light exposure too, I'd have to read up on how fast the moon spins, but depending on length of there there might not be enough light for the plant to sustain itself, unless it hibernates... how fast can a plant adapt to new conditions, if possible, since the moon isn't exactly in Zone 5A as nobody's mapped it out yet... the only way to know is to try, see what happens, adapt, try again to rule out variables (was it a robust plant?), see what happens, try in another location, compare results, and so on and so forth.

And these experiments help set the stage for other environments, such as Mars, which does have an atmosphere but is colder. Not to mention terraforming, building a temperate zone to compensate for the distance from the sun and make a balance, etc, etc.

The best way to create plants that are from Earth on planets that have a faster spin is too pollinate the plant while it is on the planet with a faster spin. Theoretically the adaptation to the new gravitation spin should be encoded within the male flower that is then passed onto the female flower where both flowers, calculating and storing the new data would pass the data off to the new seed. The new plant creation might take several generations to adapt to the moons spin but I think it is still possible.

Example:

If a human couple that are thin moved from the city to Alaska over several generations their children would adapt to store more fat in order to keep warm.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Lamarckism and Lysenkoism, really? Wow. Don't fall off the edge of the world.

 

[Gary7]

I gather the plants died of cold because there was no provision for keeping them warm during the 14-day long lunar night. I'm not really sure what was proved other that germination and initial growth happened in one sixth gravity.

Exactly. Doesn't matter if it's on the moon or in space... same thing, an oxygen encapsulated environment with some moisture, except in this case there's a little gravity on the moon. So, not really much of an achievement.

 

[XCV330]

If a human couple that are thin moved from the city to Alaska over several generations their children would adapt to store more fat in order to keep warm.

That's not at all how natural selection works. At all. At the risk of offending, it might not hurt to learn things before knowing things.

Moving to Alaska does not ensure your children develop a proctective layer of blubber over 3 generations. But please do warn the Palins about that, just the same.

You know, now that I think of it, the shorelines of Florida are rich in krill at certain seasons of the year, and so by now 4th generation Floridians should have developed a layer of balleen above their moustaches to filter out plankton for nourishment.