Unless one is a trained fighter jet pilot, or a Formula 1 driver, humans tend not to do well at higher gravity, but tiny green moss plants seem to thrive under such conditions.

A team from Japan found that moss (Physcomitrium patens) exhibited increased photosynthesis under hypergravity conditions (six and 10 times Earth’s gravity) due to enhanced carbon dioxide (CO₂) diffusion from the atmosphere into the chloroplasts within the plant leaves.

The plants adapt to the increased gravity by increasing the size of their chloroplasts and the number of leafy shoots of the moss (gametophores). Researchers identified for the first time the gene factor responsible for this response. They named the factor ISSUNBOSHI1 or IBSH1, a namesake of an inch-high, warrior boy from a beloved Japanese fairytale.