WEBVTT - The Werewolf Principle: Adapting Humans for Space 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.680 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:14.000 Works dot com. Hey this is Stuff to Blow your Mind. 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:17.240 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie. 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:19.520 There is a book I read a little while back 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.720 and it's referencing the title to this podcast, Um, The 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:27.680 Werewolf Principle by Clifford D. Simmic, and uh, I found 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:31.240 it really interesting. It's not perhaps not Simmac's best work. 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.680 He's and he's probably best known for a book called City, 0:00:34.720 --> 0:00:38.720 which one Hugo Award. But it's kind of like they 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.640 came up to the Clifford, you know, really established a 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:44.440 sci fi dude, and they said, hey, we want you 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:49.239 to write, um a novel about wherewolves from space? And 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.960 then he set out and like wrote the most intelligent, 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:55.800 interesting take on that concept possible. Of course, instead of 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.280 it just being werewolves landing and running around howling it things, um, 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:04.040 it involved all yeah yeah, which gets into the interesting 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.360 argument that I've always wondered. It's like, what if what 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:08.080 would happen to be a a werewolful handed on the moon? 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.280 Would they be aware a wolf all the time? Would 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:12.440 they be affected by what the Earth was doing? Would 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:17.080 they be howling all the time. Yeah, yeah, interesting. But 0:01:17.080 --> 0:01:20.080 but the Clifford, the Simcs, the whole take was that 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:22.520 he decided to make this a person who had been 0:01:22.560 --> 0:01:26.720 engineered to adapt to different environments and sent off into space. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.120 So he goes to if you were to land on Mars, 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:32.120 his body would rapidly change so that he could, you know, 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.199 live on Mars um et cetera. And anyway, he's returned 0:01:35.200 --> 0:01:38.039 to Earth and he's he keeps changing into these previous forms, 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:42.000 and that's the basics. There's also something really like that, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.039 like humans live in houses that can fly around and there, 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:48.520 and they're brownies like little um creatures that live in 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.360 the woods. So isn't he like two hundred years old 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:55.200 or something by the time he returns. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.520 so he's got a he's got a lot of living. Yeah, 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.080 but it's a it's such a forming but at hard 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.720 it's such a fascinating concept because, uh were we still 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:07.920 talk about terraforming a lot. We talk about I mean, 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.920 one of the basic models of space flight is let's 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.440 take a little bubble of our environment and let's blast 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:17.720 it up into into orbit. Because we are ultimately we're 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.160 creatures that can that are that have evolved to live 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:25.040 only in a very small region of our own atmosphere, 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.560 just a small portion of the Earth's crust. Because of 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:33.000 the crust also, some definitions includes the atmosphere. So so 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.760 we're only really supposed to live in this one little section. 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:37.760 But we keep pushing the boundaries. You know. We want 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.919 to climb out everest. We want to to to live 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:42.520 in space, and then we want to have our little 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.760 environment when we're in orbit. We want to turn Mars 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.400 into Arizona. Uh, you know, and uh and and and 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.920 and and you see these fantastic science visions, um, where 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:56.160 we've gone out and done that to all these different 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.160 worlds where we we just find, you know, exoplanet after exoplanet, 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.040 change it into Florida, change it into Vacationville, right right, Um, 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:07.519 we're looking at you, Richard Branson. But and then you think, okay, well, 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.000 I mean fish, they're not doing this. They're not saying, wow, 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:12.560 I wish I could live on land, right and have 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.280 these gills. You know, how do I come up with 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.160 some sort of lung situation here? Right? They they ended 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.840 up evolving, adapting over time and uh, reaching the point 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.640 where they where something could not return to the water, 0:03:27.760 --> 0:03:30.360 and so you you run into this interesting argument of 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.959 what should we be doing to evolved to our setting 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:38.680 and as opposed to changing our setting to to to 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.880 adhere to our demands? Right, And of course the astronaut 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:44.160 is like the perfect specimen to look at this whole 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.680 argument with, right, Yeah, yeah, it's because they're not very 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:52.160 ideal in terms of trying to actually explore space, right 0:03:52.480 --> 0:03:55.400 and nothing against them, yet our humanness getting in the way. Well, 0:03:55.440 --> 0:03:56.960 that's actually a good place to start, like what is 0:03:56.960 --> 0:04:01.040 the ideal astronaut given what we currently know about you 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:05.200 know about about sending people into orbit? Um. One of 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.640 the more interesting things is that you want somebody with 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:12.200 ideal methane output? Of course. Yeah. And of course, for 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.240 I think we all know what I'm talking I'm talking 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:18.200 about farts of course in space. And when you see ideal, 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.480 I think you mean minimum minimum um. Yeah, because at 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:24.880 first of the methane is uh, it's flammable, So you 0:04:24.920 --> 0:04:27.279 don't want you have a closed environment. You don't want 0:04:27.320 --> 0:04:29.800 like a lot of gas going off in there and 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:35.680 potentially catching on fire while guys are carrying off you know, experiments, etcetera. 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:38.240 Plus this the whole psychological thing. If you're going to 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.560 be stuck in a spacecraft for six months, you don't 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.120 necessarily want to be gas and people out right right right. 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.880 There's a gavin name of Edwin Murphy, and he did 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.480 some he conducted some research on this. Uh and this 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.880 is this is really interesting. It was it was there's 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.360 a whole chapter dealing with with this topic. And Mary 0:04:55.440 --> 0:04:59.880 Roach's U latest book, UM about Mars and the space 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.280 the space program. So Murphy used an experimental bean meal 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:05.360 and he fed it to volunteers who had been rigged 0:05:05.440 --> 0:05:10.000 to a rectal catheter uh to uh and and to 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.720 to measure how much gas was going out. Uh and 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.360 he was he was interested in the individual differences, not 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.520 just the the overall volume, but in you know, the 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:23.360 percentage of of methane in the game in the the 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.920 the flattest. I believe it's the technical term for it, 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.960 because if you're writing a scientific you know, um, discussion 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.040 on something you don't want to just you know, keep 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.720 saying the farts art doesn't cut it and search cheese 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.120 joke here. Yeah, uh so, um, but what he found 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.400 it was really interesting. Uh. He found out that about 0:05:44.400 --> 0:05:48.039 half the population doesn't produce methane in there. Um. I 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:49.880 thought that was incredible because it was something about like 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:53.640 their their bacterial flora. Yeah, it's and it's great, and 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.040 it's important to know. The methane itself is like a 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:01.080 it's not methane doesn't stink. There are other things that 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:05.360 work in one's digestion decides methane production. Um. So it's 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.440 not something where you can where where these people are 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:13.720 not creating or uh you know, emanating or express expressing flattist, 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.920 though he did apparently claim that one he found one 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.240 individual who was quote flattist free, which just sounds I 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.160 just I don't I didn't even think that was possible. 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.120 I mean, can you imagine, I mean you could put 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.800 that on your resume. Yeah, I mean people would or 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.440 would they hate you? I don't know, I would kind of. 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.320 I would feel like like if someone if I was 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:33.760 in a position to hire somebody to be like, oh, 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.200 by the way, I'm flattist free, I'd be like, well, 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:38.520 I'm not hiring you, jerk. You're gonna just make us 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.000 look bad. Yeah, yeah you're right. Yeah we could never 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:45.040 blame anything on you. Yeah, I just can't. It would 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:46.600 happen in like the dude we just said there, all 0:06:46.640 --> 0:06:50.800 smug like and just it would be horrible. Ye, but 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.039 you could always be an astronaut. Yes, being an astronaut 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.679 would be great because because there wouldn't be any concerned 0:06:57.920 --> 0:07:02.440 with methane at all. Um. So, Murphy's whole argument was, Hey, NASA, 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:05.200 you need to focus on getting astronauts who have the 0:07:05.279 --> 0:07:09.840 proper um um flattest output for space you want. You 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:13.400 want people that are that are producing the less hostile 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.560 flattest and only those people. Everybody else you're you're out 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:18.400 of the pool. Yeah. And then NASA was like, no, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.120 we're just gonna not serve beans, that's right, No cabbage, 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:23.320 no broccoli. I think we're going to get the go 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:27.640 the easier route. Yeah. And and actually this guy to um, 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.200 if I understand this correctly from Mary Ridges book, he 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.520 was like a flattest researcher. Like he was employed as 0:07:33.560 --> 0:07:37.560 a flattest reacher researcher, and only a flattest researcher. This 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:41.000 was his life work. Yes, yeah, so you can imagine 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.240 why he took it so seriously and and didn't he 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.840 even uh insert the rectal cathe Yes, she actually talked 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:51.560 about that the rectal catheter. Yeah, I mean it's we're 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.720 we're laughing, but it's you know, it's a it's an 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.640 important area of study if you're talking about sending guys 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.120 up in gals up into space in this little, a 0:08:00.160 --> 0:08:03.440 tiny environment. But it's but this is cost It's also 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.920 like one of the first like real you know moments 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.640 like which way are we gonna go? Are we gonna 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:11.200 gonna change our environment? We're gonna change us? And this 0:08:11.240 --> 0:08:13.160 was a chance to not really change us, but to 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.800 you know, selectively choose. And I mean granted, there there 0:08:18.840 --> 0:08:22.200 are you know, minimal requirements for for astronauts and and 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:25.640 uh members of any you know, space program, stuff like um, 0:08:26.080 --> 0:08:29.440 you know, you know, eyesight, blood pressure height, um. You 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:31.840 know obviously that they tend to go for people who 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:33.680 have at least a bachelor's degree and some sort of 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:39.080 science or yeah. So and and you have to have 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:41.560 kind of a happy, go lucky disposition, right. Yeah, And 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:44.200 even like space tourism, most of the models we're looking at, 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.160 even the ones like you know, even like the Branson's 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.360 whole whole space tourm tourism deal, as as much as 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.640 they're going to try and cater that to to make 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.719 make it available to everybody. Uh, the certain people are 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:57.400 just not going to be eligible to go into space. 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.959 So people who have a fear fly right, I think, 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:02.520 are going to be cut off the list. Yeah. But 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.079 but this is a case where where NASA could could 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:07.400 either have have have said, yes, we're gonna go after 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.440 the people who who have minimal flat us you know 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.439 in our methane producers. Um, and they said no, we're 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:18.680 gonna change the meal plant. So it's so practically so 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.320 so other areas that the Mary roach brings up. Bone mass, 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.320 of course is a big deal. You're gonna lose bone 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:26.320 mass if the more you're in a in a in 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:29.880 a microgravity environment. Yeah. And actually that I mean it's 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:32.840 the staff that I saw in that was astronauts lose 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:34.840 one to two percent of their bone mass for each 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:38.000 month they spend in space. That's quite a bit. Yeah. 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.920 And uh and and but but the interesting thing is 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:44.600 that black women, for instance, are seven to percent denser 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.840 in their bones than than than white or Asian women. 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:51.160 And uh, of course Mary didn't have the have the 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:53.360 data for men, just for the women. And I assume 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:58.720 that's tied to osteoporosis research. But but conceivably um black 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.839 men would also have better bone density than wider Asian men. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:06.280 So so it ends up creating an interesting argument there 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:13.480 should we only be using um minimal flat us black astronauts, 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:16.720 you know, why not? Why not? Yeah, if they're they're 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:19.800 gonna be more suited for space. And you can take 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.439 this even one step further, and then it's that maybe 0:10:22.440 --> 0:10:26.400 they should all be deaf because because you know, if 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:29.080 anybody's ever had motion sickness, be it on a boat, 0:10:29.480 --> 0:10:32.160 in the car, etcetera, you know, it's you get kind 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.520 of nauseous. Next thing, you know, you're throwing up into 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:36.280 the into the floorboard of the vehicles, right, And it's 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:38.440 an inner ear thing. And people used to think it 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.400 was tied to the stomach, but it's not. Yes, tied 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.640 inner ear and uh and and many people argue that 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.720 it's kind of a mistake of evolution because vomitings, as 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.400 much as we may hate it, does serve a number 0:10:49.440 --> 0:10:51.800 of really key functions. You know, you eat something and 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.960 it's bad, it's poisonous, you barf it up, start over 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:59.079 um and and actually animals that don't vomit I mean 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:00.840 that becomes a problem because if they eat something they 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.240 should eat a belief horses are like this, Uh, they 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:05.360 eat something they shouldn't eat, they can't vomit it up. 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.760 It's it's you know, it's more of a it becomes 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.800 a real problem with huge amount of discomfort. Right, Yeah, 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:13.679 because like with kids, right, if a kid eats something 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.640 they're not supposed to, A child, not a goat. If 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:19.080 a child eat something that he or she is not 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.599 supposed to, you can always there's the vomiting, right, you 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.920 can give them epicacue or something. Right. Uh. And I'm 0:11:24.960 --> 0:11:26.760 thinking about this too, like this is sort of accident 0:11:26.760 --> 0:11:30.400 of nature, right, because whatever controls our vomiting response is 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:34.440 near our inner ear function or something along this. I'm sorry, 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.040 I don't have the correct terminology, but I sort of 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:40.600 scan that remembering. Okay, So that's why we sometimes vomit 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.760 because we're Yeah, but it serves no evolutionary prop prob 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:45.920 you know, there's no reason for it. It's like I'm 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:47.960 feeling kind of motion sickness, and my body's like we 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.840 have to vomit now, you know, there's no Yeah, it 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:56.120 serves no like evolutionary advantage. Um. So the only way 0:11:56.160 --> 0:12:00.480 to act completely get rid of motion sickness is is 0:12:00.600 --> 0:12:03.679 for the human have a non functioning inner ear. And 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:06.520 uh so you we can see within go for deaf people. 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:12.920 So all black deaf astronaut crew with minimal flattus, all right, 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.120 I mean it could happen. I guess The problem is 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.960 is that you just keep narrowing the pool to the 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:20.360 point where it's probably harder and harder to get astronauts 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.720 right unless you create and this is I'm throwing this 0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:24.880 out there is like a future kind of thing, and 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.760 and and kind of a potentially scare eugenics kind of thing. 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.120 But like then you create a breeding program, right, just 0:12:30.200 --> 0:12:34.000 for astronauts, just to encourage the traits. I mean, we 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.040 do it. We've done it with dogs, and of course 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:39.560 that has some horrible effects and many times. But conceivably, 0:12:39.880 --> 0:12:42.360 it seems to me you could you could have a 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:45.199 breeding program similar to the you know, like something out 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.760 of Dune where you're just breeding for ideal astronauts. And 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.600 and so it's like a genetic, you know, hereditary thing. 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:55.320 You create an entire cast or subspecies of astronauts. I know, 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.640 and I'm just thinking now, like the Island of Misfits 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.439 and rud Off red nose reindeer in the elf that 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.840 wanted to be a dentist. Like there might be that 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:06.080 person that's bred to, you know, do this and gets 0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:10.480 you know what, I really want to go to space? Thanks? Yeah, 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:12.640 but then then you have to sit down with and 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:15.600 be like like, but dude, listen, listen like you well, 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:18.839 don't listen, like read the words writing because you're deaf, 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:21.000 because we bread for that. Uh. You know it's like 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.960 your your death, your bone density is incredible, your you 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.880 have no methane when you when you when you break wind, 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.080 like this is this is for you. But they're like, no, 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.280 I really really want to be an artist, but what 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:40.000 do you do? Right? This presentation is brought to you 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:48.440 by Intel Sponsors of Tomorrow. So so there's that that 0:13:48.520 --> 0:13:50.880 viewpoint like what if we so you know, step one, 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:54.040 we we only choose the people that are ideal for space, 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.280 and then okay, we can take that a step further. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:14:00.200 What if we we bred people for space? Uh? But 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.840 then then the next step is what if we engineered 0:14:02.880 --> 0:14:05.839 people for space? What if we made them um ad 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.880 or made them better, we adapted them for space into 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:14.240 the cyborg. Yes, um, and like a simple version of 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:15.880 it would be like if you just made people death 0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:17.880 before we sent him into space, which is kind of horrifying. 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.040 But I'm not sure a lot of people go for that. 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:22.840 They might, I don't know, but there are a number 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:25.160 of interesting changes that could that could take place that 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:29.840 would be less scary, though some of them are pretty scary. Um. 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.240 So let's look get the cyboard and now that this 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:34.960 is a term that is preloaded these days, because when 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:37.720 when when I say cyborg, what do you think of? Well, 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.440 I think of the Terminator, but I think he's technically 0:14:41.520 --> 0:14:44.240 he was more of a robot covered with flesh, with flesh. 0:14:45.040 --> 0:14:49.040 Darth Vader. Yeah, I think Darth Vader was pretty cybernetic 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:54.760 in his state. Um, RoboCop perhaps a cyborg. I'm I'm 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:58.000 kind of foggy on the explanations in the first two movies, 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:00.080 but but yeah, you get this idea. It's like a 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:05.160 human being that has been augmented terrifically or terrifyingly with machines. 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.480 Six million dollar, six million dollar man Is is a 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.480 prime example on the cyborg. Yeah. But but again, this 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.680 is kind of a tern that's been taken by by 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:14.880 science fiction and and just sort of they run wild 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:16.560 with it. So now you just think of like man 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:19.800 with half metal face kind of thing. The term actually 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:24.280 originates back in nineteen sixty September of nineteen sixty in 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:27.880 uh an edition of Astronautics, and this was an article 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:32.720 by men Manfred E. Kleins and Nathan S. Klein UH 0:15:32.800 --> 0:15:34.960 one with a C, the second with a K, and 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.120 it was titled Cyborgs in Space and it's a great read. 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.040 I'll have to throw up a link to it on 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:44.680 the the accompanying blog post when this podcast comes out. Um, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.080 but they they may they just made he may they 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:50.200 make the huge argument that, like here's just a quote 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:51.800 from it. It It really sums it up. In the past, 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.040 evolution brought about the altering of bodily functions to suit 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:57.800 different environments. Starting as of now, it will be possible 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:01.000 to achieve this to some degree with out alteration of 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:06.760 heredity by suitable biochemical, physiological, and electronic modifications of man's 0:16:06.760 --> 0:16:10.440 existing um bodies. So and so, what I thought was 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.360 kind of cool about this too is that it's not 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:17.000 necessarily that they felt like they were changing humans, but 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.880 that they were improving humans. So that they could explore more, 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.440 and they could have more independence to to create more 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.000 and to think more if they if they weren't um 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:31.360 burdened by their own physicality. Right, and you in de 0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:33.600 leading people make the argument that the cyborg has been 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.200 around for ages. Right, the second that we skinned an 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:39.880 animal and started wearing its fur cyborg. Second with the 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:42.560 second we strapped a wristwatch to our to our arm 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.760 cyborg dentures exactly, yeah, yeah, how are you going to 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:49.360 chew you know, throw the denters in? You've augmented the 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:53.240 individual with technology to better enable them for their environment. 0:16:53.280 --> 0:16:56.720 You've become something more than human. Right and and certainly 0:16:56.760 --> 0:16:59.440 we went into a number of these possibilities on the 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:04.760 previous uh Accessorizing podcast about you know, if somebody can 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.840 wear flippers, they're gonna they're gonna swim faster. Um. You 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.840 know we we wear about computers, are you know our 0:17:11.119 --> 0:17:17.360 our iPhones? It's like there's there's so much technology. Eyeglasses, contacts, um, lasers. 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.560 These are all examples of something where technology changes the 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.040 person to better suit them for their environment. You may 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:24.679 think of it it's just your everyday life, but your 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:26.320 everyday life is here on Earth, But what if the 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.400 everyday life was in space? So clients and client took 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.040 that and then they looked at all the problems facing 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:34.879 us and trying to exist in space or explore space. 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.000 And I thought that the solutions they came up with 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:43.120 were incredible. I mean, they're they're really creative, and they're 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:47.480 really interesting ways to to approach the problem. Yes, And 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.520 I have to tell you though, to like reading this, 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.320 I thought, this is this is so crazy, like this 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.480 is the Madman era. Can you imagine them like sitting 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.119 in a cocktail party saying, well, I've got an idea 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:01.880 about this whole problem of the lungs in space. Yeah, 0:18:02.080 --> 0:18:04.159 or I mean it reminds me a little bit. In 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:06.080 Mary Roach's book, she talks about like when you would 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:10.439 have scientists, the scientists that designed space travel and the 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.919 jock astronauts that would do it, like setting in the 0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.040 same room and the and she pointed out how that 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:18.840 the scientists would be like, you know, we could develop 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:21.240 a way for the for them to actually eat parts 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.760 of the ship on the return trip from Mars. And 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:25.600 maybe there's a way we can make it to where 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.040 they can eat eat pooh or something, you know, it's 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.199 like they're actually beginning to think along those lines. And 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.320 the astronauts were like, no, no no, no, no, we're not 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.639 doing that, because it's something about like the scientific mindset 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:37.520 when you really get into it from a just a 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:42.160 a pure purely logical problem solving, uh, you know, frame 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.119 of mind. So so there's a hint of that, more 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.840 than a hint of that in this in their original article, 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.199 because it's some of the possibilities are a little uh uh, 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.119 you know, they make you shake your head a little, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.840 but but but they're but the logic of it is 0:18:56.000 --> 0:19:00.280 is interesting and intive. For instance, they pointed out that 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:05.040 we could have osmotic pressure pump capsules UM and sensing 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:09.240 and controlling mechanisms in our bodies like implanted to give 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:12.960 us medications for blood pressure to give us basically speed 0:19:13.080 --> 0:19:16.080 if we need to to stay awake UM, which you 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.880 know they have various medications on space UM any kind 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:22.760 of a space mission these days, but you generally have 0:19:22.800 --> 0:19:24.800 to pop the pills yourself. But what if it was 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.120 an automatic thing? And that's one of the huge key 0:19:27.400 --> 0:19:32.800 um aspects of of what was basically cyborg one um 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:35.680 as outlined in this proposal and that was that we 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.200 were taking these different things and turning them over to 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.920 subconscious functions, right. Yeah, So it wouldn't be like like, oh, 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:44.760 I'm getting a little sleepy and I've got a high 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:46.840 pressure job ahead of me. I better uh you know, 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.720 pop some of this uh this NASA speed Uh No, 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:52.879 you would just it would just kick in ums all 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:56.439 these sensors that are taking the data and recalibrating your 0:19:56.480 --> 0:19:58.880 body based on that. Yeah. And and other things too 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:04.480 in this situation, like any radiation medications, uh, pituitary drugs 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:07.359 to help induce hibernation. That was a big key too, 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:09.480 because you get into the issue of how are you gonna, 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.640 you know, worry about sending people on long space voyages 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.560 where you know they're gonna be they're going to be 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:18.080 setting around doing nothing for you know, years. What if 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.880 you could we could learn something from bears. Uh, well, 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.160 bears don't technically hybernate, I remember correctly. It's a different Well, 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.560 I think that they are interested in bears. It's something 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:31.920 that when they hibernate, they're actually redistributing the calcium back 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.120 to their bones or something nuts like that, that which 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:36.960 they thought, well, if we could just replicate that in 0:20:37.040 --> 0:20:39.520 humans that would be great. Yeah, yeah, because bears are 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:42.080 sitting around doing nothing for for the period of their 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.560 of their their winner and app time. But they're not 0:20:45.800 --> 0:20:48.720 they're not losing a bone in their bone in density 0:20:49.080 --> 0:20:50.960 and their their muscles. They can still walk at the 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.000 end of it. The human laid in bed for X 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:56.600 number of months, he or she would not necessarily be 0:20:56.640 --> 0:20:58.800 able to move when we got it when they woke up. 0:20:58.840 --> 0:21:00.600 And the crux of the problem too that yeah, you 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.120 can you might have muscle atrophy atrophy, but you can 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.040 get your muscles back afterward, right, And you'll have some 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:08.960 bone loss, but you may not be able to recoup 0:21:09.000 --> 0:21:12.040 actually all of the bone density that you lost in 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:15.800