Chickpeas Grow in Moon Dirt

Researchers from the University of Texas (with Texas A&M) used Apollo‑based lunar regolith simulant from the Exolith Lab, mixed in worm compost and treated chickpea roots with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and produced harvestable chickpea plants in mixes containing up to 75% regolith. The fungi successfully colonized the regolith mixture, suggesting a one‑time inoculation could help convert barren lunar dust into a stable plant substrate; food‑safety for consumption remains untested. — If reproducible, this lowers the resupply and infrastructure burden for lunar bases and raises immediate policy questions about planetary protection, food safety, and who controls off‑world agricultural systems.