Aquatic Team

It is assumed that the output of the vestibular apparatus changes markedly in zero-gravity, but this has never been measured. Dr. Steve Highstein and his colleagues have devised a way to continuously monitor the nerve signals coming from the vestibular apparatus in the oyster toadfish. With this technique they can directly measure the nerve traffic from the vestibular apparatus and how it adapts to space. The water snail Biomphalaria glabrata (known to tropical medicine experts as a vector for schistosomiasis) possesses a gravity sensor that develops rapidly. How will this gravity sensor be affected if it develops entirely without any gravitational inputs? Dr. Mike Wiederhold and his colleagues will answer this question.