Seeds of seabuckthorn, Himalayan buckwheat part of experiment on ISS
Seeds procured from 11 nations across five continents are part of the study spearheaded by U.S.-based bioastronautics firm Jaguar Space, which plans to expose the seeds to microgravity conditions for a week.
The seeds are part of the "Emerging Space Nation's Space for Agriculture & Agriculture for Space" payload that flew to the ISS along with NASA's Crew-11, which lifted off from Florida on Friday (August 1, 2025) and docked onto the orbital lab on Saturday (August 2, 2025).
The seeds will be brought back by the Crew-10, which is expected to return to Earth later this month.
The seeds grown in Ladakh were sourced by Bengaluru-based space start-up Protoplanet.
"We will study how the seeds react to micro-gravity conditions and their potential use as a food source for long-duration space missions," Siddharth Pandey, Director, Protoplanet, told PTI.
Mr. Pandey stated that Protoplanet has contributed sea buckthorn and Himalayan tartary, nutrient-rich plants native to high-altitude regions. The Himalayan tartary is a variety of buckwheat that is nutrient-rich and gluten-free.
On return from space, the seeds will be studied by Indian researchers.
According to Jaguar Space, the World Seeds study examines how seeds react to the unique stresses of the space environment before they begin to grow, focusing on fundamental processes such as the activation of genes and metabolic pathways essential for germination.
This experiment explores the potential of previously unexamined species to contribute to future space agriculture initiatives.
Seeds from the Maldives, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nigeria, Armenia, Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria are part of the experiment.
"Beyond its scientific potential to advance research on climate resilience and global food security, the World Seeds payload represents a meaningful step toward ensuring that, as humanity becomes a spacefaring civilisation, the millennia-old knowledge, biodiversity, and cultural heritage of communities around the world are carried forward as an essential part of that journey," said Dr. Luis Zea, Founder of Jaguar Space.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
Perseids Meteor Shower Peak, Other Sky Events To Watch In August
Led by the Perseids meteor shower, August brings a busy skywatching calendar. With planetary pairings and deep-sky objects also on display, the month offers plenty for stargazers worldwide. August 12-13: Perseids Meteor Shower Peaks The Perseids, one of the most popular annual meteor showers, will peak on the night of August 12-13. While active from late July to August 24, this two-night window is expected to be the most intense, with up to 150 meteors per hour or 2-3 per minute, according to This year, the full moon on August 9 may interfere with viewing, washing out fainter meteors. Perseids Meteor Shower To Be Visible In India Viewers in India are advised to head to darker, rural areas for better visibility. Ideal viewing time is from midnight to just before sunrise on August 13. Regions such as Spiti, Ladakh, Rann of Kutch, and remote parts of Karnataka or Uttarakhand are recommended. Those who miss the peak may still catch a few meteors in the days following, especially between August 16 and 20, when moonlight begins to fade. August 26: Mars And The Moon Conjunction On August 26, Mars will appear next to a thin crescent moon in the western sky around 8.15 pm IST. Visible low on the horizon, the pair will stay close for about an hour. No telescope or binoculars are needed. Planetary Viewings August 11-12: Venus-Jupiter Conjunction Venus and Jupiter will appear only one degree apart in the eastern sky before sunrise, according to NASA's JPL. August 12 (early morning): Venus and Jupiter Rise Together Both planets will rise side by side, appearing like two bright stars. August 19-20: Crescent Moon With Venus and Jupiter A thin crescent moon will join the two planets in the eastern sky before sunrise. August 19: Mercury At Greatest Elongation Mercury will be at its most visible this month in the eastern sky before sunrise. It appears low on the horizon. The Dumbbell Nebula The Dumbbell Nebula (M27), one of the easiest planetary nebulae to spot, will be visible all month within the Summer Triangle, high overhead during early nights. It appears as a faint patch of light and marks the remains of a dying star. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will be visible at various times this month. Mercury appears low in the east later in August, Venus and Jupiter shine bright in the eastern sky before sunrise, Mars is visible in the west after sunset, and Saturn rises late at night, shifting earlier as the month progresses.
Indian Express
3 hours ago
- Indian Express
‘Our processing system will turn that into drinking water': Learn how astronauts wash their hair in space
Washing hair in space is a unique challenge due to the lack of gravity. On Earth, we rely on running water to rinse out shampoo, but in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS), water behaves differently. In a video, NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg provided a step-by-step demonstration of how astronauts wash their hair while floating in zero gravity. To wash her hair in space, Nyberg uses a bag of warm water, no-rinse shampoo, a towel, and a comb. She explains, 'These are the things I need: a bag of warm water, a little no-rinse shampoo, a towel, and my comb.' Since water does not flow like on Earth, Nyberg has to squirt warm water directly onto her scalp. She describes, 'What I like to do is start by just putting some hot water, squirting it onto my scalp. I have a mirror there so I can kind of watch what I'm doing. Sometimes the water gets away from you, and you try and catch as much as you can. Then, I just work the water up through to the ends of my hair.' Astronauts use a special no-rinse shampoo, which does not require full rinsing. Nyberg explains, 'Next, I take my no-rinse shampoo and squirt it onto my scalp—just a little bit—and rub it in, again working it out to the ends. Sometimes, I'll actually take my comb to help work it all the way to the end.' Without running water, astronauts rely on towels to help remove dirt and excess shampoo. She says, 'I like to take my towel while I have the shampoo in there and just kind of work it because, without standing under running water, you need to use the towel a little bit to help get some of the dirt out.' Even though the shampoo is no-rinse, Nyberg finds that adding a little extra water helps with the cleaning process. 'I like to follow that by a little more water. It's called no-rinse shampoo, but I think it's best if you use a little water with it.' Once the hair is clean, it dries naturally in the weightless environment. The evaporating water is captured by the ISS's air conditioning system and eventually recycled into drinking water. 'Now, as my hair dries, the water evaporates and becomes humidity in the air. Then, our air conditioning system will collect that into condensate, and before long, our water processing system will turn that into drinking water.' After washing, Nyberg carefully combs through her hair to remove tangles and lets it dry freely. She notes, 'At the end, I just do one final comb-through to make sure there are no snarls and snags. While it dries, I like to let it stay free—I don't put it back in a ponytail while it's drying.' Washing hair in space requires patience and adaptation, but astronauts have developed efficient techniques to maintain hygiene while orbiting Earth. Nyberg's demonstration offers fascinating insight into daily life aboard the ISS, where even simple tasks like hair-washing require creative solutions.
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
Himalayas May Not Be Pristine Anymore, Study Shows Presence Of Toxic Metals In Clouds
The Himalayan clouds, once believed to offer purest drinking water, might be silently carrying toxic heavy metals, posing potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health risks, especially to children. A new study has highlighted that the clouds over the Eastern Himalayas contain 1.5 times higher pollution levels than those over the Western Ghats. The study conducted by the Bose Institute, an autonomous body under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), identified significant levels of toxic metals such as cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in non-precipitating clouds during the early monsoon season over the Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas. For the study, scientists investigated the composition of heavy metals in the non-precipitating low-level clouds collected on the rooftop of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in the Western Ghats and the Bose Institute campus located at Darjeeling in the Eastern Himalayas in 2022. "Children are at higher risk of 30 per cent of such toxic metals than adults in India. Inhalation of polluted clouds over Eastern Himalayas containing high concentrations of toxic metals is the most potential route for non-carcinogenic diseases," the study published in the journal Science Advances highlighted. "Health risk for the occurrence of carcinogenic diseases has increased due to inhalation of dissolved Cr present in clouds," it added. The scientists stated that the inhalation of polluted clouds over the Eastern Himalayas was identified as the main pathway for non-carcinogenic diseases. The study also found that carcinogenic risks have risen due to the inhalation of dissolved chromium present in clouds. The study linked elevated levels of cadmium, chromium, copper and zinc in the region's clouds to vehicular and industrial emissions from the foothills. They warned that clouds act as transport mediums for heavy metals, which can enter the body through breathing, skin exposure and consumption of rainwater in high-altitude areas. Despite the alarming findings, the study stated that the Indian clouds remain relatively less polluted compared to countries like China, Pakistan, Italy, and the United States.
