Jellyfish born in space have "massive vertigo" when they are brought to Earth, and apparently lack the gravity-sensing capabilities that their terrestrial cousins develop early on. They display "abnormal pulsing and movement" in gravity, apparently due to a malfunctioning of a mechanism that uses small calcium sulfate crystals to sense up and down (similar to our own otoliths). This does not bode well for human babies born in space.
Plus, as JWZ notes, "Space-Born Jellyfish Hate Life On Earth" is the greatest science headline ever.
A warning for future space colonizers: Babies born in space might not ever figure out how to deal with gravity. Jellyfish babies, at least, have to deal with massive vertigo on Earth after spending their first few days in space.
NASA first started sending jellyfish to space aboard the Columbia space shuttle during the early '90s to test how space flight would affect their development. As cool as being an astronaut baby sounds, the jellies didn't develop the same gravity-sensing capabilities as their Earthly relatives.
Space-Born Jellyfish Hate Life On Earth [Shaunacy Ferro/Popular Science]
(via JWZ)
(Photos: Henry Kaiser/National Science Foundation)
