Tech

Crops grown in Mars are safe to eat, scientists say

Published

8 years ago

June 26, 2016

Crops grown in Mars are safe to eat, scientists say

Dutch scientists have managed to grow crops, including four vegetables and cereals, in soil “similar to that on Mars,” and have deemed it safe to eat.

Sure, it’s not actually soil straight from the source, but it does contain many of the same elements as what might be found on the red planet. And not only were scientists able to grow crops, but they were able to grow them “abundantly.”

Radishes, peas, rye, and tomatoes were all harvested in the course of the latest experiment, and contained “no dangerous levels” of heavy metals, according to the team from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Read also: Twitter quietly launches location feeds

“These remarkable results are very promising,” senior ecologist Wieger Wamelink noted of the results. “We can actually eat the radishes, peas, rye and tomatoes, and I am very curious what they will taste like.”

Scientists have actually been trying to emulate agriculture on Mars since 2013, and over the last three years, have raised 10 different crops.

And while those grown on Martian soil on Earth are safe to eat, it’s unclear if plants actually grown on Mars would be consumable — after all, it’s unclear as to whether or not these crops would absorb heavy metals like cadmium, copper, and lead.

RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now