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world Scmp World 2026-03-26

Sperm Struggle in Space: New Research on Fertility in Weightlessness

Scientists create obstacle course to test sperm navigation in space, find some resilient, but embryo development is harmed by lack of gravity.


Scientists have used a tiny plastic “obstacle course” to test how much sperm would struggle to navigate during sex in the weightlessness of space. Some particularly resilient sperm still made it through the course, suggesting that conceiving children in space will still be possible, according to research published on Thursday. However, a bigger problem could be that the development of embryos after fertilisation was harmed by a lack of gravity, the Australian team of researchers found. With...

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