00:00 [MUSIC]
00:04 Astronauts are known for eating not the freshest foods.
00:07 And while their diets consist of more than just freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream,
00:10 growing food in space is going to be key to humanity colonizing other planets.
00:15 However, a new study has found some troubling news about the healthlessness of greens grown in space.
00:20 According to researchers from the University of Delaware,
00:23 leafy plants grown in simulated microgravity are more likely to harbor Salmonella bacteria.
00:28 The ISS was already found to be a capsule full of fungi and bacteria as diverse as anywhere on Earth.
00:33 Meaning the discovery of Salmonella on plants grown in similar conditions
00:36 means it's also possible to happen up there.
00:39 A dangerous notion since medical care could be weeks, if not months away.
00:43 So why is lettuce more susceptible to bacteria in microgravity?
00:46 Well, the researchers found that when the leaves of the plants were in that state of weightlessness,
00:49 their stomata pores would open.
00:51 These are usually used to keep dangerous bacteria out.
00:54 Meaning the state of microgravity disables this ability somehow.
00:57 With the researchers saying about their findings,
00:59 "The fact that the stomata were remaining open when we were presenting them
01:03 with what would appear to be a stress was really unexpected.
01:05 It is important to better understand how bacterial pathogens react to microgravity
01:10 in order to develop appropriate mitigation strategies."
01:13 [music]
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