• Question: what could happen when there is no gravity?

    Asked by SAYr9 to Ellen, Elliot, Hazel, Rupesh, Thomas on 11 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Thomas Biggans

      Thomas Biggans answered on 11 Jun 2016:

      There is always gravity but what can change is the strength of gravity for example if we were on Mars we’d still be pulled to the ground by gravity but by less force so we could jump higher but then because we don’t need as much strength to do things our muscles would get weaker because they are not needed as much.

      Astronauts on the space station are conducting experiments to see what the effects of micro gravity are on plants, bacteria and themselves. I don’t know much about the specifics of what they are doing so I’d suggest heading over to the NASA or ESA website to find out. Alternatively you can ask Tim Peake on twitter!

    • Photo: Rupesh Paudyal

      Rupesh Paudyal answered on 13 Jun 2016:

      Awesome question!

      Following on from Thomas’ answer…

      To start off with microgravity is the correct term, but sometimes people refer it as zero-gravity, which is technically not correct. Even in space there is always some level of gravity (just much much less… not even mini but micro-gravity!)

      Since I am a plant scientist, I will tell you what happens to plants.

      If you read my profile I have explained to you how the plant hormone auxin is spread unevenly inside plants that helps them recognise gravity.

      On Earth, the root and stem tips would have high amount of auxin that allows the root to grow down and stem to grow up. But in microgravity, the way plant hormone auxin is spread inside the plant changes and so they will start to grow in random directions.

      But it’s not all bad news because the direction plants grow can also be influenced by light (shoots grow towards light) and by water (roots grow towards water).

      The small molecule I have worked with for my PhD, indirectly created the effects of microgravity (it changed the way auxin is spread inside plants) and caused plants to grow in random direction.

      FYI Tim Peake has been carrying out experiments at the International Space Station to study Auxin transport in plants. It’s super cool!!!

      Please read my profile for more information, and drop me a question if you want to know more. Enjoy!

Comments