Scientists with the European Space Agency have shown that plants and flowers can be grown on the Moon by demonstrating that marigolds can grow in crushed rock very much like the lunar surface, with no need for plant food. According to a report by BBC News, the new research was presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting in Vienna. The new step, taken in the experiment, is to remove the need for bringing nutrients and soil from Earth. A team led by Natasha Kozyrovska and Iryna Zaetz from the National Academy of Sciences in Kiev planted marigolds in crushed anorthosite, a rock found on the Earth, which is very similar to much of the lunar surface.