lab write-up

GeoSci 120: Geology of the Planets Name _____Hector Vazquez____________

Spring 2015

Dr. Lindsay McHenry

PRE-LAB DUE: TUES, APRIL 28, 11 pm

LAB DUE: TUES, MAY 5, 11 pm

Lab 12 Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

The pre-lab assignment (due April 28) will consist of your plan of action, and must include:

1. How or where you will acquire (or have already acquired) your brine shrimp eggs.

2. What hypothesis you intend to test.

3. What your setup will be for your control case.

4. How you intend to test your hypothesis. What variable will you change? How will you

change it?

1. I have acquired the brine shrimp eggs from amazon.com

2. I intend to test the durability of the shrimp eggs by submitting them to differently lighted

rooms with different temperatures for a long period of time. I will expose one of them to

a cold room with little light and a warm room with more light. Eventally I will heat or

cool them differently and observe the results. I believe these will thrive better in the

colder, darker environment.

3. I will have two containers filled with water and my control case will be the one in the

darker, colder room.

4. I will expose one of them to a cold room with little light and a warm room with more

light. Eventually I will heat or cool them differently and observe the results. The one in

the warmer, lighter room will be present in more extreme enviroments such as

microwaving or extreme cold like the freezer.

Day 1 Documentation 05/02/2015:

- Insterted shrimp eggs into separate containers in a well lit and a dark room. No huge

diffences off the bat except that from a certain angle the eggs in the well lit room

appeared to have a darker appearance.

Day 2 Documentation 05/03/2015:

- Exposed the experimental group (room with more light) to colder temperatures for 15

hours in a mini fridge. Before doing this it appeared to have much much darker texture

than the control group in the darker room. Control group appears unchanged from the

previous day.

Day 3 Documentation 05/04/2015:

- Experimental group lost all of its darker texture while in the colder temperatures in the

fridge, colder temperatures seem to deactivate the process of hatching seeing as how after

it was microwaved for one minute, the eggs seem to me “shaking” within the water.

- Control Group has stayed exactly the same, it appears light and colder temperatures halt

the hatching process.

Day 4 Documentation 05/05/2015:

- No hatching from either control or experimental group at this point, experimental group

appears to be giving off a distinct “Fish Tank” smell, indicating the possibility of

hatching soon?

- Control Group seems less developed and has changed very little from the first day the

breeding process started.

While the eggs did not hatch in either case, my hypothesis that the eggs would thrive better in a

colder, darker environment proved to be wrong. If anything at all, the eggs proved more

responsive when they were exposed to the different environments rather than waiting around in

the same environment for four days. Due to how hardy these eggs are it is my belief that they

when in a state of stasis they become less responsive and they thrive in constantly changing and

complex environments with more water pressure and stimulation from other creatures. This

being the case, it makes a good theory in believing that a good case for astrobiologists who look

for life in harsher and less forgiving environments than the one we have on Earth. This

environment that was created for the shrimp eggs could equal the one for the oceans on Jupiter’s

moon in Europa, while it has not been explored in detail it is not out of the possibility that similar

beings could live within these conditions.