NASA fed moonrocks to cockroaches and injected moon dust into mice

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/07/29/nasa-fed-moonrocks-to-cockroac.html

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No, not cockroaches, they were Petrophaga lorioti.

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So Portal 2 was kind of right…

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How is the moon different than any other big space rock bopping around our solar system? We get sprinkled with space dust every day from asteroids. I mean, if they are going to sterilize the dust as well, it’s no different than what lands on Earth after a “shooting star” lights up the night sky.

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The results were not promising

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I ate some moon-rocks on Saturday, I woke up on Monday. How that happen?

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They missed the obvious explanation that they died in the Great Pain of Space, clearly.
http://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/smithcordwainer-scannersliveinvain/smithcordwainer-scannersliveinvain-00-h.html

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Explains how this stuff came about in the 70s.

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No erosion from an atmosphere? Inhaling moon dust is suspected to be a way to get silicosis.

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Because science!

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In all seriousness, the moon has no weathering aside from high velocity impact, making moon dust very sharp. Much sharper than dust on earth, which is gently weathered and beautifully seasoned into that gorgeous planetary patina you just can’t get in the airless void.

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Pointy - that makes sense. And seems really obvious now you mention it; moon dust is not rounded because it is nearly all shrapnel!

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Who knew they sold LSD over the counter like that?

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FWIW I don’t recommend eating that while on LSD…

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I think there’s also a lot of ionization in moondust too. It’s constantly being bombarded with radiation. So it may have some neutron activation and weird chemistry you don’t normally find on earth either.

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True, no atmosphere and no magnetic field to shield it.
I’m guessing the label says Fine, pointy and radioactive: Not to be used as sprinkles!

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This all sounds a bit Dr. Josef Mengele to me.

You want Biker Mice from Mars? Cause this is how you get Biker Mice from Mars.

image

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From the article:

Whether in lunar water or not, many of the oysters died, which the scientists chalked up to having tested animals during their mating season.
Are they saying that oysters typically die during their mating season? Just curious.