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

by Tom Chandler on February 11, 2008

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.

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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Megan 02.11.08 at 11:58 pm

Fishtrounaut? Cabin fever setting in, Chandler?

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2 Tom Chandler 02.12.08 at 7:27 am

What, is it winter?

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3 Ian 02.12.08 at 10:24 am

Secrets of motion sickness? I’ve got a formula for the scientists:
15 miles of curvy, mountain road + 1 quart of Arizona Ice Tea + Tom Chandler = acute motion sickness

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4 trey 02.12.08 at 5:38 pm

I wonder how a mountain white fish would fare.Maybe it would come back more like a trout,or not

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5 Bob Foresti 02.16.08 at 11:00 am

…yeah, I can just imagine what they’d say upon their return: “…sure beats getting sucked into the power dam on the Columbia…”

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6 Tom Chandler 02.17.08 at 3:24 pm

This really opens the door for the next big sci-fi thriller: The Andromeda Trout.

We shoot harmless trout into space, but get back a strain of space-bug mutated super trout.

Why Hollywood continues to turn its back on me remains a mystery…

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