在 02-21-2026，研究人员报告称，在国际太空站培养的 Penicillium simplicissimum，于近乎失重环境中在密封液体培养里放置数周后，从压碎的陨石岩中提取出钯。样本返回地球后，Cornell University 的 Rosa Santomartino 与同事分析液体，发现与一同测试的细菌 Sphingomonas desiccabilis 相比，该真菌将更多钯释放到溶液中。当真菌直接生长在压碎陨石上时，钯含量上升最快，而且该真菌也使铂的释放量超过单纯化学浸出。
为了分离重力效应，团队在地球上运行了相同硬体，同时太空人 Michael Scott Hopkins 在太空站装载该实验。在测量的 44 种元素中，微生物帮助将其中 18 种拉入溶液，而真菌培养占了这些提取中的很大部分。文章还指出，在微重力下，单靠化学作用有时会更快释放某些金属，而微生物提取则保持稳定，并提到 2019 BioRock 任务显示微生物可在轨道上从玄武岩浸出对电子产品关键的金属。
对剩余液体的化学分析显示，在微重力下该真菌增加了羧酸与其他小分子的产生。文章称样本体积较小且结果有变动，而要扩大规模需要更严格控制微生物生长、流体混合与化学条件。文章进一步表示，未来工作必须处理更大的系统、更长的时间尺度、辐射暴露、非目标微生物污染，以及在闭环系统中可靠捕获已溶解金属并回收生长液体。
On 02-21-2026, researchers reported that Penicillium simplicissimum grown aboard the International Space Station extracted palladium from crushed meteorite rock in sealed liquid cultures left for weeks in near weightlessness. After the samples returned to Earth, Rosa Santomartino of Cornell University and colleagues analyzed the liquid and found the fungus released more palladium into solution than the bacterium Sphingomonas desiccabilis tested alongside it. Palladium levels rose fastest when the fungus grew directly on the crushed meteorite, and the fungus also increased platinum release beyond chemical leaching alone.
To isolate gravity effects, the team ran identical hardware on Earth while astronaut Michael Scott Hopkins loaded the space station experiment. Across 44 elements measured, microbes helped pull 18 into solution, and the fungal cultures accounted for much of that extraction. The article also states that in microgravity chemistry alone sometimes freed certain metals faster while microbial extraction remained steady, and it references the 2019 BioRock mission showing microbes could leach electronics-critical metals from basalt in orbit.
Chemical analysis of leftover liquid showed that in microgravity the fungus increased production of carboxylic acids and other small molecules. The article says sample volumes were small and results varied, and scaling up requires tighter control of microbial growth, fluid mixing, and chemical conditions. It further states that future work must address larger systems, longer timelines, radiation exposure, contamination by unwanted microbes, and reliable capture of dissolved metals plus recycling of growth fluids in closed-loop systems.