China grows 'Super Vegetables' with Seeds from Outer Space

While most governments are reacting to the global food shortage by growing more food, the Chinese have decided to grow the same amount of fruits and vegetables, but with A TWIST: giant versions of standard food staples: 210-pound pumpkins, 2-pound tomatoes, and cucumbers that are over 2-feet long -- that are currently feeding families in 22 of China's provinces, and governments in Europe, Japan and elsewhere are taking notice. 

This weird, believe-it-or-not scenario becomes even more fantastic as it turns out that the reason these foods can grow so huge is because they've been sent to outer space. The seeds get blasted into outer space, and, after they return, transform into enormous eatables -- but no one knows why.

The China Academy of Sciences, working with the then Soviet Union, first started looking at the benefits of growing seeds in space in 1987. Then two years ago the Shijian-8, the first recoverable satellite designed solely to carry space seeds, was blasted into outer space on China's Long March rocket. On board were more than 2,000 seeds.Read More