Imagine sipping a cup of tea that’s grown far, far away. Sounds like science fiction? It’s not!
A group of scientists from the University of Kent has managed to grow tea using soil created to replicate lunar conditions. This breakthrough could totally change how astronauts eat and work in space!
This cool experiment took teamwork from multiple fronts: the U.K. tea company Dartmoor Tea, a film team from Lightcurve Films, and the planetary science network, Europlanet, all joined forces for this research.
Headed by Professors Nigel Mason and Sara Lopez-Gomollon, the scientists planted tea saplings into soils modeled after what you’d find on the moon and Mars. For weeks, they closely monitored the plants in designed environments with controlled temperature, humidity, and lighting similar to space conditions.
They compared how the tea poked up in the lunar and Martian simulated soils against a standard group rooted in Devonian soil—a type that’s ancient and super rich in clay from Devon, England. The results? The plants grown in lunar soil thrived just like those in the good ole Devonian dirt. Unfortunately, the Mars-grown saplings didn’t fare as well and did not grow at all.
The results got some serious airtime this week at Europe’s first Space Agriculture Workshop.
This research wasn’t just about seeing if tea plants could survive on the moon. It also sheds light on how crops react to tough climates—a growing concern with all the changes we’re seeing due to climate change shaking up agriculture. A new report from Stanford University and the University of Illinois showed that places like the Midwest might face drops in crop production, despite farmers trying various new methods. With climate factors like longer dry spells and weird weather becoming common, it’s a big deal for food security.
By figuring out how tea and other crops can thrive in extreme conditions, researchers could learn how to better develop farming strategies for both Earth and further out in space.
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