Fruit flies survive moderate hypergravity

A UC Riverside experiment found female Drosophila exposed to four times Earth’s gravity (4 g) for 24 hours became more active and completed normal life‑cycle tasks, and multigenerational exposure produced no obvious damage; higher g (7–13 g) reduced activity consistent with energy conservation. The study included developmental microgravity controls and a 10‑generation hypergravity cohort to probe lasting effects. — Shows that small animals can be surprisingly robust to elevated gravity, with implications for astrobiology, designing life‑support systems, and assessing biological risk for long‑duration, high‑g space travel or centrifuge‑based artificial gravity.