LIVE German 2025 Election Results

NASA astronaut grows alien-like potato named ‘Spudnik-1’ aboard ISS

Get you up to speed: NASA astronaut grows alien-like potato named ‘Spudnik-1’ aboard ISS

Strange ‘alien-like’ purple growth sprouts from a potato grown on the ISS | News World

Astronaut Don Pettit shared the photo on his X account (Picture: SWNS)

A bizarre floating growth on the International Space Station has sent the internet into a frenzy because of its alien-like roots.

NASA’s Don Pettit shared a picture of a potato he grew while onboard the orbiting platform.

Nicknaming the crop ‘Spudnik-1’, Don said: ‘I flew potatoes on Expedition 72 for my space garden, an activity I did in my off-duty time.

‘This is an early purple potato, complete with a spot of hook Velcro to anchor it in my improvised grow light terrarium.’

He explained: ‘Potatoes are one of the most efficient plants based on edible nutrition to total plant mass (including roots).

‘Recognised by Andy Weir in his book/movie ‘The Martian’, potatoes will have a place in future exploration of space. So I thought it good to get started now!’

The purple roots disgusted many online (Picture: SWNS)

But not everyone was pleased with the result of his space experiment.

One commented: ‘I genuinely thought this was some kind of egg hatching.’

The alien-looking potato had gross purple tendrils growing out of it, which Don explained was due to the zero gravity.

‘The roots would grow in all directions absent gravity, and all plants I have ever grown in space have grown far slower than they would have on Earth,’ he said.

Pettit experimented during his time on NASA’s Expedition 72 mission aboard the ISS.

In 2023, tomatoes which were grown in space were sent back to Earth after a successful NASA study into fresh food supply for future astronauts.

Some online thought the potato roots looked like an alien (Picture: SWNS)

Follow WTX on WhatsApp to be the first to get all the latest news

Follow us to receive the latest news updates from WTX (Picture: Getty Images)

WTX’s on Whatsapp! Join our community for breaking news and juicy stories.

After splashdown, the scientific samples were taken to NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, where scientists performed additional analyses before the effects of gravity fully kicked in.

The Veg-05 experiment grew dwarf tomatoes in the station’s Veggie facility to examine the effects of light quality and fertiliser on fruit production, microbial safety, and nutritional value.

The Veggie vegetable-production system on the ISS offers an opportunity to develop a ‘pick-and-eat’ fresh vegetable component to food on the space station.

This particular investigation is expected to help define horticultural best practices to achieve high yields of safe, nutritious dwarf tomato fruit to supplement a space diet of pre-packaged food.

It was also used to assess any psychological impacts that growing plants might have on the astronauts.

Comment now

Comments

Add WTX as a Preferred Source on Google

Add as preferred source

Puzzles Newsletter

Get your favourite puzzles when they are ready to play on the website sent directly to you every day and track your daily streak!

Scientists warn of deteriorating Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands as risks grow

Get you up to speed: Scientists warn of deteriorating Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands as risks grow

Fears huge nuclear dump buried under concrete dome could be unleashed into the sea | News World

The Runit Dome was built to contain radioactive waste from nuclear experiments in the middle of the 20th century (Picture: US Defense Special Weapons Agency/Cover Media)

A Pacific Island is sitting atop a nuclear time bomb that could pollute the oceans for centuries.

Scientists have discovered that a concrete structure built to contain radioactive waste from Cold War-era testing is showing signs of deterioration.

The site, known as Runit Dome, sits on Runit Island in the Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Although Runit itself is uninhabitable, the atoll is home to around 300.

The dome sits close to the ocean’s edge and rising sea levels and shifting groundwater bring seawater into close contact.

It dates back to a period of intensive nuclear testing. Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests across Enewetak Atoll and Bikini Atoll, displacing more than 300 Marshallese people.

One test in particular, an 18-kiloton explosion known as “Cactus”, destroyed part of Runit Island and sent a mushroom cloud approximately six kilometres into the sky.

The Crater created by the Cactus explosion on May 5, 1958. It was later used as a burial pit to inter 84, 000 cubic meters of radioactive soil (Picture: US Defense Special Weapons Agency/Cover Media)

In the late 1970s, the 10 metre deep crater left by the blast was used to store more than 120,000 tonnes of radioactive soil and debris collected from across the atoll.

The site was then sealed with an 18-inch (46cm) concrete cap, forming what is now known as the Runit Dome.

More than five decades later, the structure is showing visible signs of ageing. Cracks have appeared across its surface, and groundwater is able to flow beneath it.

Researchers say this water moves in and out with the tides, potentially carrying radioactive material into the surrounding lagoon. Studies have also indicated that the dome is not watertight.

Ivana Nikolic-Hughes, of Columbia University and president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, observed cracks during a visit in 2018 while measuring radiation levels.

‘These results provide further demonstration of the continuing impact of radioactive fallout on the Marshall Islands and will inform future work to understand how the presence of this isotope might affect current inhabitants and potential resettlement,’ she writes.

The Enewetak atoll from above. Runit is in the lower right of the picture. (Picture: NASA Earth Observatory/Cover Media)

American officials have said the structure is not at immediate risk of collapse.

But experts have warned that some of the radioactive elements involved pose extremely long-term risks. Plutonium-239, used in nuclear weapons, remains hazardous for more than 24,000 years.

Arjun Makhijani, president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, said no concrete structure could be expected to last even a fraction of that time.

He noted that cracks have already appeared within decades, highlighting the challenge of containing radioactive material over such long timescales.

‘There are already cracks in it in less than 50 years,’ he told Australian broadcaster ABC.

Scientists say the dome illustrates a broader problem. Certain places we regard as being safe spaces to dump toxic waste, may become less so due to climate change. If sea levels rise and rain increases, water and food supplies change.

Comment now

Comments

Add WTX as a Preferred Source on Google

Add as preferred source