EARTHLY life forms may not reproduce normally in the altered gravities they
could encounter in space, an experiment on the space shuttle suggests.
Joseph Tash of the University of Kansas in Kansas City and his team examined
how sperm and eggs from sea urchins interact. While the microgravity aboard the
shuttle stimulated sperm activity, increasing gravity by using a centrifuge
lowered the rate of sperm-egg binding and fertilisation (Biology of
Reproduction, vol 65, p 1224).
鈥淪uch alterations have implications for reproduction of plant and animal
food, and for long-term space habitation by humans,鈥� says Tash.
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