The vertebrate vestibular system detects linear (otolith organs) and angular (semicircular canals) acceleration. The function of the otolith system is twofold, 1: perception of linear acceleration of the head, and 2: assessment of the spatial orientation of the head relative to the vector of gravity. Because of the latter function, a change of gravity will affect the vestibular input which, in ...

When an observer lifts two objects with the same weight but different sizes, the smaller object is consistently reported to feel heavier than the larger object even after repeated trials. Here we explored the effect of reduced and increased gravity on this perceptual size-mass illusion. Experiments were performed on board the CNES Airbus A300 Zero-G during parabolic flights eliciting repeated e...

For more than a decade research on the botanical mechanism responsible for circumnutation has centered on whether or not these nearly ubiquitous oscillations can be attributed to a hunting process whereby the plant organ continuously responds to the gravity force and, by overshooting each stimulus, initiates a sustained oscillation or, driven by a not yet defined autogenic mechanism, performs o...

Earth's gravity exerts relatively weak forces in the range of 10-100 pN directly on cells in biological systems. Nevertheless, it biases the orientation of swimming unicellular organisms, alters bone cell differentiation, and modifies gene expression in renal cells. A number of methods of simulating different strength gravity environments, such as centrifugation, have been applied for researchi...

The ability of aquatic vertebrates to maintain their position requires integration of visual and vestibular sensory information. To understand better how aquatic animals integrate such information, we measured the optomotor behaviour of Xenopus laevis tadpoles raised in growth chambers in microgravity (< 10(-3)g), normal gravity (1 g), hypergravity (3 g) and on a slowly rotating clinostat (simu...

The graviperception of sporangiophores of the fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus involves gravity-induced absorbance changes (GIACs) that represent primary responses of gravitropism (Schmidt and Galland, 2000). GIACs (DeltaA(460-665)) of sporangiophores were measured in vivo with a micro-dual wavelength spectrometer at 460 and 665 nm. Sporangiophores that were placed horizontally displayed an inst...

Biofuel production processes at high gravity are currently under development. Most of these processes however use sugars or first generation feedstocks as substrate. This paper presents the results of a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the production of bio-ethanol at high gravity conditions from a second generation feedstock, namely, wheat straw. The LCA used lab results of a set of 36 process c...