Have you ever dreamed about a trip to the space? Seeds (种子) of some vegetables and crops are a lot luckier than you, as they have travelled to space and back.

    China is among the three countries in the world that carry out agricultural research (农业研究) in space. The others are Russia and the US.

    Since 1987, China has sent about 1, 000 species of seeds into space.

    These include green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers (黄瓜), carrots, lettuce and wheat. Even on China's first manned spacecraft Shenzhou—V, there were some seeds from Taiwan.

    "Conditions in outer space such as radiation (辐射) and low gravity can cause big changes in the seeds," said Chinese researcher Jin Xing.

    But not all seeds are better after going to space. After returning to the Earth, the best seeds are selected. These seeds produce (生产) much more and also grow faster than normal (正常的) seeds