Jason Goldman, writing in The Guardian, today tells of the long history of frogs being sent (by humans) into space for scientific purposes: “Frogs in space: one giant leap indeed“.
Ig Nobel Prize winner Richard Wassersug [pictured here] has an intimate relationship with the history of frogs in space. Among his publications in that realm:
- “Emesis and space motion sickness in amphibians” (2000)
- “The Frog in Space (FRIS) Experiment Onboard Space Station Mir: Final Report and Follow-on Studies” (1997)
- “Amphibian development in the virtual absence of gravity” (1995)
- “Interspecific variation in the behavioral responses of frogs to exotic gravitational stimuli” (1994)
- “Behavior of Japanese tree frogs under microgravity on MIR and in parabolic flight” (1994)
Wassersug was awarded the 2000 Ig Nobel Prize for biology, for his first-hand report, “On the Comparative Palatability of Some Dry-Season Tadpoles from Costa Rica.” [Published in The American Midland Naturalist, vol. 86, no. 1, July 1971, pp. 101-9.]