Effect of pre-flight treatment with constant magnetic field on development of Artemia eggs retrieved from Chinese Satellite "8885"

Dry winter eggs of Artemia salina were treated with a 30-60 mT inhomogeneous constant magnetic field for 113 h, and then carried by Chinese Satellite "8885" to its spaceflight for 8 days. Their early development rate and hatching ratio were observed on the 10th, 31st, 65th and 227th days after the accomplishment of the flight. Three main results were obtained as follows: (i) The treatment accelerated the development of the eggs not flown; (ii) it also enhanced the resistance of the flown eggs against unfavorable spaceflight effects (retarding early development and lowering the hatching ratio), and promoted the recovering ability of the flown eggs from the affected state; and (iii) the latent beneficial effect produced by treatment was found to be very durable, still appearing in the development of the treated eggs on the 318th day after treatment (the 227th day after the flight).