WEBVTT - Your Health as a Mars Colonist 0:00:03.120 --> 0:00:06.000 Welcome to stuff to blow your mind from how stuff 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:14.080 weren't dot com? Hey, welcome to stuff to blow your mind. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:17.840 My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. So Robert, Yes, 0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:22.880 I wanna put you in a strange scenario. I want 0:00:22.920 --> 0:00:28.400 you to imagine yourself an astronaut in a near future dystopia, 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:32.280 in fact, a truly dystopian scenario. From my perspective, to 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.920 do this is an exer side I try to employ 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:36.959 you know every day. Okay, Now, you might be going 0:00:37.040 --> 0:00:40.560 to a kind of Orwellian place, like the totalitarian Hell 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:43.640 don't go there. Or you might be going to like 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:46.479 the oldest Huxley place where we're all just medicated and 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:51.800 placated and have an empty, soulless bliss. Not there. I 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:56.360 want you to put yourself in the actuarial capitalist bureaucracy 0:00:56.440 --> 0:01:01.760 of the private insurance market. Okay, okay, so we land 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:03.800 in a place that's maybe a little more comfortable, but 0:01:03.840 --> 0:01:08.200 a little more mundane. So specifically, what you're trying to 0:01:08.240 --> 0:01:11.440 do is purchase a suite of insurance policies that will 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.600 protect you and your family if you suffer death, disability, 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.560 or a serious medical condition in your line of work. 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:22.280 So during a brief interview, there's a policy agent who 0:01:22.360 --> 0:01:25.199 has to ask you if you questions to determine whether 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:27.120 they can sell you a policy and what your rate 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.039 is going to be, so you get the standard ones. 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:33.720 Are you a smoker, heavy drinker, ivy drug user? Wait? 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:38.400 What this is the future? Right? Yes? Okay? Uh duelist 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:44.640 and or gun slinger? Um, this is the future? Yeah, um, 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:49.960 I'll say sometimes how about drag race junkie night of 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.520 the Sacred art of the motor joust? Um? Do you 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:57.840 work with high voltage nitroglycerin or flying guillotines? Not currently? 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:04.559 And does your church congregation practice snake handling? Not bio snakes? 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:07.760 So we're good, right, you only get those uh those 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:10.240 safe synthetic snakes. Yeah, yeah, I mean so we get 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:12.240 you know, the spirit of the practice is still true. 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:15.519 It's not the Middle Ages. Come on the future. Okay. 0:02:15.520 --> 0:02:17.840 So we're all the way through the interview except for 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:20.399 one final question. Are you now or have you ever 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.520 been on the waiting list for a space colonization project? 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.680 And there you got me? Yeah, I got you. Sorry, 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:31.799 that's the kicker, because Robert, I know that you are 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.680 in fact, currently an in astronaut training to become one 0:02:35.720 --> 0:02:38.399 of the members of the first wave of semi permanent 0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:42.560 Mars colonists. Uh. And depending on circumstances, you might be 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:45.360 spending the next six to twelve years and maybe the 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:49.160 rest of your natural life in a habitat on the 0:02:49.200 --> 0:02:53.799 surface of a red, red waste land. And unfortunately you're 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:56.080 well aware of this, and well aware of the fact 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.080 that if you answer yes to this question, your monthly 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.280 payments are going to be so high as to defeat 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.200 the entire purpose of the insurance policy, right, because this 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.239 is a risky venture. This is this is even beyond 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:10.519 drag racing and motor jousting and what have you. This 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:13.120 is uh, this is this is a risky lifestyle to 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.520 take on. How true that is? Now, you could do 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:17.840 what Neil Armstrong and the rest of the crew of 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.600 Apollo eleven did. Did Did you ever hear about this story? Now? 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:24.320 The whole insurance policies for astronaut is is an area 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.320 I've I've not explored well. When the crew of the 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:29.320 Apollo eleven mission, who were going to be the first 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.079 people to land on the Moon, realized that life insurance 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:35.880 policies would be prohibitively expensive for them. They came up 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.080 with an interesting idea to to make a policy of 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:41.360 their own. So, during the month when they were in 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.119 quarantine before launch, and this is true, they signed hundreds 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.840 of autographed covers they were called which were these envelopes 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:53.600 postmarked with historically significant dates on them? Uh, And they were. 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.480 They were autographing these covers, and then they would deliver 0:03:56.600 --> 0:03:58.840 them all to their families. This way, they knew that 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:01.280 if they didn't survive of the mission, the sale of 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.680 autographed memorabilia would at least be enough to keep their 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.880 families afloat. So since I'm probably not going to get 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.280 this insurance policy because of my my my aspirations to 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:15.520 to become a Mars colonist, I can at least set 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.479 up the possibility that my family can make money off 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:22.320 the fact that I am Slash was the first man 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.680 to die on Mars. Yeah, okay, I could see that. Yeah, 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:28.000 I mean that the motion pictures that would be made 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.880 about me, the rights to your life. Who's gonna play 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.960 you dying on Mars? I I hope everybody. They would 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.640 be like a Bob Dylan kind of thing, where different 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.800 actors and actress would would play me at different stages 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:44.080 of my demise. Kate Blanchets you gasping on the red Rock. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:47.680 I think that's perfect. That would be pretty cool. But anyway, 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.599 put yourself back in the scenario. So the insurance agent 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:55.280 that that question might actually cause you to have some 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.920 second thoughts about your plans to go to Mars because 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.040 of what your body is going to be up against. 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:04.839 Now you know a few things, but you might not 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:09.679 realize the entire spate of potential challenges to your health 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:13.360 and well being while living on Mars, well while bound 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.240 for Mars, and once you get there, especially since you 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.520 couldn't wait out the years of preparation it was going 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.279 to take to be part of the joint NASA Jackson Yes, 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:23.919 a mission, and instead you have signed up with a 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:28.719 kind of sketchy sounding nonprofit based Mars colonization outfit because 0:05:28.760 --> 0:05:31.719 they promised lift off within eighteen months and you're in 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:35.200 a hurry. Though from what you've seen so far, they 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:38.240 might be cutting some corners. Uh. Yeah, I was very 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:41.400 skeptical of the the wooden spaceship approach that they were 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.200 they were looking to employ. Did you ever read that? 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.120 What was that there? Was a proposition that that the 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:49.719 movie Alien three was originally going to be about a 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.400 wooden planet. Oh yeah, I go, yeah, wooden space station 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:56.640 man by monks. That idea. Pretty wish they'd made that. Anyway, 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.559 back to the story, So this is a good jumping 0:05:59.600 --> 0:06:02.520 off point to talk about the real thrust of today's episode, 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.599 which is the question, what are all of the health 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.880 challenges that our bodies might face over the course of 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:13.240 a long term Mars colonization effort, both traveling to Mars 0:06:13.440 --> 0:06:16.200 and living there for years at a time or maybe 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.280 for a whole lifetime, And are there anyways we know 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.320 of to overcome these challenges? Yeah, it's a it's a 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:25.559 big question one that uh that NASA and other space 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:30.200 exploration authorities continue to look into, because that's kind of 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.440 the next big phase, right, that's the dream that's our 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:37.560 generation's moon, the idea of actually making it to the 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:41.120 red planet, of leaving this world that we've evolved to 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:44.559 thrive on and to thrive within a very slim portion 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.400 of the atmosphere and also only in certain regions of 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:52.160 the planet, to leave this world, travel through the unforgiving 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:57.279 void of space to a rather lifeless world and somehow 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.480 make a go of it. Yeah, well, we certainly don't 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:03.640 want to discourage Mars exploration with this podcast, but I 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:08.640 think it's just helpful while encouraging the exploratory and scientific 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:13.120 spirit to also realize what a truly horrible place Mars is. 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:15.960 So I think we should start with some of the 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.200 more obvious and more often talked about issues such as 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:25.120 radiation and reduced gravity micro gravity or zero gravity as 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.320 the case may be, and and then move on to 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:31.520 some of the more obscure concerns. So, the biggest health concern, 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:36.000 quite obviously for Mars travelers is going to be radiation exposure. Indeed, 0:07:36.040 --> 0:07:38.560 we live in a kind of privileged a situation here 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.560 on Earth because we're we're largely shielded from some of 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:45.160 the the harsher radiation that can reach us in the 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:47.920 form of cosmic radiation and in a lot of the 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.360 solar radiation. Yeah, that's certainly true, And we actually would 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.600 have to deal with radiation in two different scenarios that 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.640 both apply to the Mars colonists. So there's gonna be 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:01.000 the radiation on the way to Mars and the radiation 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:04.080 once you get there. Because it's a sad fact that 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:07.680 Mars is not shielded the way Earth is, so both 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:11.880 cosmic and solar radiation immediately become a problem once you 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:14.960 leave the neighborhood of Earth. Even on Earth's surface, we're 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:19.000 actually exposed to a steady ambient level of radiation from 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.600 the Sun and from the larger universe. That would be 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:26.920 solar radiation and cosmic radiation, respectively. But Earth's atmosphere and 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.680 magneto sphere, so that's the magnetic field generated by the 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:35.280 dynamo effect when the Earth's liquid metal outer core rotates 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.480 around the intercore, an effect that most planets, uh that 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.800 we know do not feature. Yeah. Uh, that protects us 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.360 from the danger. So most of the incoming radiation gets 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:48.520 deflected or absorbed and we don't really have to worry 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.920 about it. Even astronauts on the International Space Station, which 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:55.160 is on average two nine miles above the surface of Earth, 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.600 even though they're exposed to more radiation than we get 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:01.880 on the surface, there's still shielded by Earth's magnetosphere, which 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:05.600 extends thousands of miles out into space. Yeah. When you 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.280 take that into account, I mean it's it's hostile and unforgiving. 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.880 As as the orbital environment is, it makes it seem like, 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:15.280 you know, like a five year old camping in his 0:09:15.360 --> 0:09:20.800 parents backyard compared to actually venturing beyond the magnetosphere into 0:09:20.960 --> 0:09:24.280 this unprotected regional space. Well, it's the equivalent of like 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.360 wading into three feet of water as opposed to swimming 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.240 across the ocean. But yeah, so once you're traveling in 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.439 outer space on the way to Mars, you no longer 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.480 have these protective barriers. And even once you get to Mars, 0:09:36.840 --> 0:09:39.439 as we said, things aren't gonna be much better because 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:42.520 Mars does not have a strong magnetosphere like Earth, and 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.719 its atmosphere is absolutely puny. It's puny and thin. It's 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.840 about one percent the thickness of Earth's atmosphere. So you're 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:52.160 just not going to get much protection from radiation on Mars. 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.400 And there are ways to get around this. So people 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.000 have been coming up with all kinds of habitat and 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:02.040 space ship designs that would try to shield astronauts from 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:04.440 the various types of radiation they would encounter. So some 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:07.679 ideas are how to how to make shielding around a 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:11.240 spaceship that would absorb cosmic rays and try to prevent 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:15.319 secondary radiation from shooting off and irradiating you. One interesting 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:19.000 idea of read about is surrounding the crew capsule with 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:23.520 organic materials and water, so all of the food and 0:10:23.720 --> 0:10:27.280 human waste and water and things like that would go, 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:31.920 would sort of form a weird moist BioShield around you. 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:34.360 Oh wow, so in in a sense, you would be 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:40.440 sailing to Mars in a protective bubble of your own sewage. Yes, exactly. Yeah, 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:45.720 it's sewage to the future. It will save your life, hopefully, 0:10:45.760 --> 0:10:48.880 But we need to do more research to determine exactly 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.640 what the risks are and if we can create a 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.640 system like this that's economically feasible and we'll keep astronauts safe. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:59.560 Because another problem is, sure, you can build a radiation shield. 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:01.120 I mean, we've build stuff like that all the time. 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:03.600 We have nuclear power plants, people who work with radiation, 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.920 and they can do that with relative protection. But it's 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.200 expensive to ship stuff into space, and the more bulk 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:13.960 you're adding to your ship to shield yourself, the more 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.960 trouble you're making this mission. Yeah, and it's in a 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.400 continuing theme that we'll we'll keep coming back to here 0:11:19.480 --> 0:11:21.640 is is so much of this work is still ongoing. 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.240 We're still trying to find the answers, still trying to 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.120 figure out the best methods and dealing with a limited 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:32.079 ability to experiment on them. UH in real life. Totally true, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:37.400 And unfortunately, it's not even just the standard radiation risks 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.840 that we're going to be dealing with during the trip 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.240 to Mars. So a standard trip to Mars might take 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:46.480 somewhere around six months. This is an estimate you see 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:49.719 thrown out a lot, and during those six months, and 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.320 once you get get to Mars, it's not just the 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:57.040 increased risk of cancer and other standard dangers associated with radiation. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.360 Astronauts bound for Mars might face even weird or and 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:06.040 more disturbing dangers, for example, brain damage. So there is 0:12:06.080 --> 0:12:09.319 some evidence that the kinds of cosmic rays that will 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.839 be cutting through your body on a regular basis while 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:16.400 you're on the way to Mars can produce brain damage, 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:22.120 leading to symptoms somewhat analogous to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's UH, 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.960 and I've read a few articles about this. So medical 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.959 doctors have noted that some patients who receive radiation to 0:12:29.040 --> 0:12:32.880 the head in the course of treating brain cancer display 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.320 side effects like increased confusion and other cognitive impairments, and 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:41.400 cosmic rays might do pretty much the same thing to us. 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:46.120 So in recent experiments, researchers have subjected mice to simulated 0:12:46.280 --> 0:12:51.000 cosmic rays, and six weeks after acute exposure to this radiation, 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:55.800 the mice exhibited decreased cognitive performance as well as physiological 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:58.600 changes to brain tissue. And I just want to read this, 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.920 uh quote from the abstract of the study. It was 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:07.079 reductions in dendritic complexity and spine density along the medial 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:13.079 prefrontal cortical neurons known to mediate neurotransmissions specifically interrogated by 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.240 our behavioral tasks. So so your ability to behave with 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:22.280 intelligence could be impaired by the time you arrive at Mars. 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:29.120 Showing up at Mars brain damage is not a good idea. Yeah, yeah, right, 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.160 when a lot of the really heavy work is about 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:34.480 to begin. Yeah. And so a couple of notes, these 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.920 are mice brains, not human brains, and we know there's 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:39.720 some difference there. Also, we we should be able to 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:42.080 protect against this, like I was saying earlier, if we 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.120 prepare and invest enough, if we do the research, figure 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.880 out what the vulnerabilities are, and build the right kind 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:51.000 of shielding. But again it's an economics problem. Can we 0:13:51.040 --> 0:13:54.600 invest enough resources to make sure people are safe from 0:13:54.600 --> 0:13:59.000 these effects? If you're going on the nonprofit cutting corners 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:03.199 get you there fast missions, that might not be the case. Yeah, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.320 I don't know if the balsa wood shielding is going 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.600 to work and the outfit that I've been I've been 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:10.559 reading the brochure about. But of course it's not just 0:14:10.679 --> 0:14:13.640 the radiation that will threaten our bodies on the trip 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.559 to Mars. What about the effects of micro gravity. Yeah, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:19.240 this is a big one. And again I'm sure this 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.720 is one that that everyone is familiar with on some level. Uh, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.200 you know, it often shows well, I was about to 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:27.320 say it often shows up in science fiction, but more 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:30.560 more often it's ignored in science fiction than the whole 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:33.240 issue of of of gravity and the lack of gravity 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.360 and space flight. Generally, you just throtle in some sort 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:39.080 of magical artificial gravity scenario and you don't worry about it. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:43.120 I always respect the science fiction universes that have some 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.920 kind of rotating device on the ship to generate the 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:49.520 force of gravity. Yeah, where it's not just the millennium 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.280 falcon and you can walk around wherever. Yeah, because the 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:56.400 bottom line, of course, is that we evolved on a 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:00.080 world with a certain amount of gravitational pull and we're 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.240 completely adapted to it. Yeah, everything about our form and 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:06.480 gravity dictates the form of our muscle groups. Uh. And 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:10.360 gravity alone forces a certain level of exercise on you 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:12.400 at all times. So even if you're just you know, 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.920 standing in your apartment otherwise doing nothing, your body is 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.600 still working with gravity. And on a microscopic level, our 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:25.280 skeleton constantly alters its structure to bear the gravitational forces 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.400 of our planet. Even our organs work with it. With 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:31.320 with Earth gravity, I mean our heart beats against gravity 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.600 when it pushes blood um up to our brains. So 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:36.560 I mean we are we are just steeped in it. 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:38.600 We often take it for granted. I mean we we 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.520 almost always take it for granted. But we are creatures 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:45.960 that have evolved to live with our gravity, with Earth gravity. Yeah, 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.760 you don't think about it, but your body is constantly 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:53.200 having to compensate for gravity. I mean, the gravity wants 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.600 to pull you towards the floor. The gravity wants to 0:15:55.640 --> 0:15:58.400 pull all your blood into your feet. So, like you said, 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:02.040 your circulatory says them, Like you mentioned has to pump 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.640 more blood pressure into the top of your body just 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.680 to make sure you get an even circulation, all because 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:11.520 of gravity. Indeed, so when we when we send astronauts 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:15.360 into space, when they go into orbit, um, they experience 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.680 a certain amount of muscle and skeleptle system deterioration. It's 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:23.520 called getting soft. Yeah, and literally that's that's what happens. 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.600 The muscles, especially the underutilized leg muscles, become flabby, lose 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:34.040 tone and mass, Muscular atrophy occurs. Bone becomes weaker because 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:37.120 of the loss of the minerals calcium, potassium, and sodium 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:41.520 um and the bone degeneration can reduce bone in the 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:46.360 lower limbs by so it's essentially a form of osteoporosis 0:16:46.400 --> 0:16:50.400 known as space flight osteopenia. Yeah, and astronauts have to 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.480 do tons of exercise just to prevent this from being 0:16:53.560 --> 0:16:56.280 worse than it is. Yeah, they're a number that there's 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.800 a lot of exercise. Um. Also, astronauts will generally take 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.960 various vitamins and even some pharmaceuticals. Particularly will take calcium 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:08.480 and vitamin d H. NASA often you know, tends to 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.160 have their their astronauts take clay to help to supposedly 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.760 help with calcium retention and then also uh, and it's 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.760 thought that osteoporosis drugs can be helpful in mitigating this 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:22.119 as well. Um, it's interesting the calcium is especially a problem. 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.159 The calcium loss in the bones of our body is 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.639 calcium is stored in the skeleton, and when we lose 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.280 it in low gravity, it enters the bloodstream, where an 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:34.520 excess of calcium can cause a host of unpleasantries. You know, 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.560 that could be as mild as just you know, diarrhea. 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:40.320 But you don't need another reason to have diarrhea in space. Yeah, well, 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.560 I mean you don't need you don't need a reason 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.359 to have any condition in space. That plays on another 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:50.080 problem that's not a medical condition in itself, but just 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:54.320 the fact that if you're headed towards Mars, or on Mars, 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:59.040 you are so far away from the nearest medical facility. Yeah, 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.439 you've got to have it all in the back, right, 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.480 you're ready to go. Yeah, what if you get a 0:18:03.560 --> 0:18:06.320 kidney stone on Mars? You know? And the other thing 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:08.679 about the the exercise, because it easy to imagine, all right, 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:11.520 we'd have our our our drug hampers is completely filled 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.199 up and our our vitamins and our um and our 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.520 osto process medications. But then and we'll just be hitting 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.479 the treadmill the whole time. But you know, we've been 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:24.080 working with this problem for decades and and uh and 0:18:24.080 --> 0:18:26.959 and experts still aren't really convinced, you know, what the 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.000 best method of exercises and if exercise really helps to 0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:35.040 mitigate this, because you're again you're talking about constant ambient 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.239 gravitational pressure on the body and that's not something you 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.560 can you can really replicate with our current systems of 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:44.239 you know, treadmills or even some of these, uh, like 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.760 these force suits that the the Russians experimented within the past, 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.280 where they would be like this, we're just the act 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.720 of moving your arm would have a certain amount of 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:58.800 of of exercises. Yeah, the resistance suits, those are interesting, Yeah, 0:18:58.920 --> 0:19:01.600 they're Um is a space musical by the name of 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:05.040 the American Astronaut, and there's a character that shows up 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:08.840 named body Suit, and he's this, uh, he's been living 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:11.720 in deep space for a long time and has has 0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:15.560 one of these resistant suits on to keep his body strong. Meanwhile, 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:20.919 his father is just this stringy creature that's completely lost 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.560 all of his bone mass and as this enormous swollen head. 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:28.520 It's a yeah, um, it's it's a common exploration in 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.880 sci fi. I guess some of the heavier sci fi, 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:35.439 like Dan Simon's Hyperion books, there's a there's like a 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.960 race of humans that live in wayless environments and very 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:44.159 very tall and elongated, creepy. Well. I mean, actually, if 0:19:44.200 --> 0:19:48.240 you've ever seen live footage of astronauts on the International 0:19:48.280 --> 0:19:51.000 Space Station, you might have noticed that they look a 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.399 little weird, like, yeah, what, what exactly is wrong with 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:59.080 their bodies? That's an effect of weightlessness, where where body 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:02.800 fluids are read distributed up from the legs and into 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:05.760 the chest, shoulders, and heads. So if their face looks 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:09.240 puffy and they look they've got the kind of bodybuilder shoulders, 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:13.960 that's because of the microgravity environment. Yeah, there's so many 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.920 things we don't even necessarily think about. One that always 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.960 amazes me is how your bladder fills up in a 0:20:19.960 --> 0:20:23.880 weightless environment. Yeah, because we've evolved to live in gravity. 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.400 So as our bladder fills up, that water is subject 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:29.240 to gravity, and as it starts getting a little bit, 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:32.880 a little bit towards the tipping point, we realize Hey, 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:34.560 I need to go to the bathroom. I should go 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:38.400 and relieve this. But if you're in a weightless environment, 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:40.840 it's not filling from the bottom up, it's just kind 0:20:40.840 --> 0:20:45.959 of filling all around. So afternots don't often really realize 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:50.600 they have to go urinate until they've reached like maximum capacity, 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:53.840 like like almost you know, dangerous levels of full bladder. 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:56.560 Oh man, Yeah, so it's kind of so it kind 0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:00.080 of transforms, you know, an ad adventurous adult in to 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:03.240 a toddler who suddenly realizes I've got to go to 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:05.000 the bathroom and there's nothing I can do to stop it. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:07.639 All right, But that's all just in space flight, when 0:21:07.680 --> 0:21:10.560 you're in this effectively zero G environment, the micro gravity 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:14.639 environment floating around, when you're on the International Space Station 0:21:14.720 --> 0:21:17.320 for a number of months, you can eventually come back 0:21:17.320 --> 0:21:20.560 to Earth and retrain. Your body might never be exactly 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:22.560 the same as it was before you went up to 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.000 the I S S, but you can you can regain 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.919 a lot of lost capacity. One question I have is 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.359 to what extent is that going to be true once 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.600 astronauts get out of the ship after six months in 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:38.159 weightlessness and then walk around on Mars, Because Mars is 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:42.680 not Earth right less gravity there, So you be you're, 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:46.520 you're you would certainly leave behind this, uh, this weightless 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:50.600 environment of space travel, but you're not. You're certainly not 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:53.120 going back to Earth levels of gravity. You're going back 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:56.679 to something far lighter. Yeah, and so what is the 0:21:56.720 --> 0:22:02.119 effect of living in sixty less gravity for years at 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.520 a time or the rest of your life. I don't 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:07.760 think anybody knows the answer to that question yet. Yeah, 0:22:07.800 --> 0:22:10.120 it's just not something we've we've dealt with thus far. 0:22:10.320 --> 0:22:13.040 And and and this is again an area where are 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:18.320 our research into ways to mitigate uh space flight osteopenia 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:21.040 has to improve. Is we have to figure out better 0:22:21.080 --> 0:22:25.359 ways to tackle it with improved exercise system improve pharmaceuticals 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:29.800 and vitamin regiments. So it's it's hard to say. Yeah. 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:32.280 And then there are a whole host of other effects 0:22:32.280 --> 0:22:35.760 we observe in astronauts and witless environments that are not 0:22:35.880 --> 0:22:39.520 even related to the decay of muscle and bone density. 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:43.159 One example would be vision. We ever read about astronaut 0:22:43.240 --> 0:22:46.000 vision impairment? Yeah, this is the thing. So on Earth, 0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:48.600 like we were saying, our circulatory system has adapted to 0:22:48.640 --> 0:22:52.320 give us even blood circulation despite the effects of gravity 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:55.520 yanking our blood towards the ground. So without the gravity, 0:22:56.000 --> 0:23:00.439 your body overcompensates for gravity that isn't there and puts 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:02.959 way too much blood into your head, so you can 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:07.840 essentially read out without without the aid of the jet fighter. Well, 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:11.600 the it's actually the continuous effects of this increased blood 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.440