Despite Shortage of Fish on Earth, Scientists Shooting Fish Into Space

At times it seems like most of the world is intent on overfishing, polluting and just generally wiping out every last fish on the planet, but here at the Underground, we think this time they’ve gone to far.

Now they’re launching them into space:

SCIENTISTS plan to launch 60 tiny fish on a zero gravity rocket ride from above the Arctic Circle today to try to plumb the secrets of motion sickness.

Experimenters Reinhard Hilbig and Ralf Anken of the University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim in Germany will train six video cameras on the fish, each of which will be housed in its own aquarium, to see how they react.

"Fish, when they get motion sick, begin tumbling around, swimming in circles and miss their balance," he said, adding that some fish do not suffer from motion sickness and seem to adapt quickly to a changed environment.

Great. Now we’ve created the Fishtronaut. Then again, if things keep going the way they are, outer space might offer the only viable habitat for wild salmon.

See you in space, Tom Chandler.

Tagged as: fish in space, weird science