Study: Potatoes can grow on Mars
From the article:"The box mimics the day-night patterns of Mars, as well as its temperature, air pressure and atmospheric composition."Wait, really? They're growing plants in what's practically a vacuum and at subzero temperatures? Really? That seems... stupendously unlikely... to me. Not that I wouldn't love to be wrong, mind.Anyone have a link to actual data? Everything linked to is just press fluff.Update: Actual articles on growing plants at very low pressure:https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/2... --- at 1/10 of an atmosphere, plants' metabolic balance gets screwed up and they go into drought response and die, no matter how much water is actually available.http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2009.0362 --- but lichen's probably fine.