The crew of the International Space Station is constantly studying the response of plants and animals to zero gravity. NASA researchers previously evaluated the viability of laboratory mice in conditions without gravity, but now they talked about a deeper experiment that focuses on tracking their behavior and health.
It turned out that the mice very quickly adapt to new conditions, but after a week, young individuals begin to behave in a very strange way.
Back in 2014, about 20 mice participated in the experiment - they were exposed to the same influences that the ISS crew is facing.
Inside a special Rodent Habitat cage, they were exposed to radiation and zero gravity conditions with a high concentration of carbon dioxide. Such a seemingly not entirely humane experiment allowed scientists to understand how these factors can affect the state of physical and psychological health of living organisms.
In a new experiment, the researchers found out how mice with relatively short lifespans respond to long-term space missions. Only female mice participated in the experiment - when they flew to the ISS, they were 16 and 32 weeks old.
The flight took three days, and after arriving, they lived in the cage for about 37 days. For humans, this seems like a short time, but for mice with a lifespan of no more than three years, it is a big test.
All 20 mice survived and did not even lose weight - their weight was compared with the weight of mice from the control group that lived on Earth.
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The recording from the surveillance cameras showed that the rodents quickly adapted to zero gravity conditions and calmly took food, looked after themselves and their relatives, and also actively explored the cage. Even their sleep quality was not affected by weightlessness.
The only thing that seemed unusual to scientists was that after 7-10 days from the start of the experiment, young mice began to actively run along the walls of the cage. Researchers have not yet found an explanation for this behavior, but they already have a number of assumptions.
Inappropriate behavior can cause stress associated with confined spaces. Running around can also help mice regain balance that was disturbed by the lack of gravity. It is also believed that in this way they are simply having fun.
Perhaps the mice simply began to behave like humans, and make up for little physical activity to avoid muscle wasting. They may also just like to run on walls - many astronauts and weightless airplanes share that they like to push off from one wall to another.
Ramis Ganiev