Fish, Coffee and the Incredible Lightness of Space

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This morning, I sent The Boy off to school with an assignment: Ask your Physics teacher about Fish in Space. Before that happened, I made a cup of coffee in the Keurig. I didn't want to make a cup of coffee in the Keurig, I had to because my lovely old percolator had to be retired. I noted that there was definite sizzling, crackling, electricity-gone-wild, sounds emanating from the base where the plug goes and the heating element heats. When a coffee pot leaks, it's an annoyance. When it sparks, it's time to unplug it for good. Anyway, more about my solution to the coffee later. I read an article about fish taken to the International Space Station so that scientists could measure just how many ways in which fish do not belong in space. I can think of one right off the bat - there's no water. But the scientists also discovered that fish lose bone density just like humans do at zero-G. They just do it a lot faster. It takes only hours instead of weeks. But I would think the opposite would be true. Or, at least, the effects would be mitigated by the tank of water. Water applies pressure, no? I mean, if you go diving in water, you have the surrounding water exerting pressure on your body. And, also - why doesn't the water float up out of the tank? Well, they have the tank all sealed in this high-tech space station way. So, since the tank is sealed in, why doesn't the water create some pressure to make up for gravity? I don't know, Google wouldn't tell me. But Google did tell me that water pressure increases with depth due to the weight of the water above you. Obviously, the weight of water on the space station is less than it would be on earth. So, add more water. Fish should be okay in a tank that is proportionately deeper to make up for the decrease in gravity. But again - no water in space. Although it seems a good idea to grow boneless fish in space for astronauts to eat for dinner, scientists are crestfallen with the results. Fish are smart enough not to live in space. And already, the coffee is gone and time to make another single Keurig cup of coffee.