After 24-hour exposure, flies became hyperactive at 4G but less active at 7G, 10G and 13G, then later returned to normal; hypergravity also briefly increased fat storage.
Researchers said the work helps explain how gravity shapes movement, energy use and stress recovery, offering clues for biology in extreme environments as human space travel becomes more common.
What biological price did these hypergravity-adapted flies pay for their incredible resilience across ten generations?
If fruit flies can thrive in crushing gravity, could life exist on massive 'Super-Earth' exoplanets?
Could the fruit fly's adaptation secrets help engineer human resilience for future deep-space missions?