Mouse-ear cress on the moon

Chinese scientists have now successfully sprouted plants on the moon. In earth soil, mind you. And in a sealed oxygenated environment. And sadly, it appears the sprouts did not survive the lunar night cold. But even so: this is a remarkable achievement, and growing plants, possibly even food, is a far healthier achievement than putting the Moon to military uses (in my own humble opinion). Lunar agriculture is no longer science fiction, but has ascended to the realm of the possible.

Even more exciting for me is that, among the plants and animals the Chinese sent up on Chang’e (along with cotton - which sprouted, canola, potatoes, yeast and fruit flies) is Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as mouse-ear cress, a plant with which I became quite familiar and friendly in my college days as a lab technician on an evolutionary biology project spanning two continents and nine different research sites.

But this is me nerding out. Personally, I think this stuff is (pardon the expression) far out, and definitely want to see what China does next with its space programme.