Boffins Close to Creating Suspended Animation
Maybe scientists will have suspended hibernation figured out by the time humans head to Mars.
We've certainly seen our share of suspended animation scenes in sci-fi movies throughout the years, ranging from the Alien franchise to Stanley Kubrick's awesome theatrical rendition of Arthur C. Clark's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not only is suspended animation a good way to skip from one point in a story to another, but in a real-life scenario, it would keep you from going absolutely nuts on long treks across space (without a Warp or Black Hole drive, that is).
But suspended animation may not be mere fiction in the coming years. According to TechEye, hydrogen sulphide is deadly in large doses, however researchers have discovered that--when applying the gas in small amounts--animals will appear dead for a while, and then wake up physically unharmed.
Along with his team at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Biochemist Mark Roth discovered that hydrogen sulphide actually bonds at spots within animals that are usually occupied by oxygen. Using a mouse, he determined that suspended animation-- or rather a forced hibernation--doesn't require the fictional ice chambers, but rather any room with normal, every day temperatures.
In space exploration, suspended animation would be ideal for long hauls across the dark empty void, alleviating the mental stress of claustrophobic conditions, the alienation of family and friends, and the sheer boredom of a 6-month journey (or longer). For patients suffering serious injuries, this may bid them extra time for technical advancements.
Roth said that he has not tested the gas on humans.
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A thought just popped into my mind. What sort of precautions would need to be taken to avoid decomposition while you're in suspended la-la land. Knowing bacteria, they'll find a way to avoid going into a suspended state and you might end up with a 'boffin' filled with digested people goo at the end of a trip.
Great, just make some room if Kevin Smith is aboard.
is suspended animation correct?
Anima (root) may refer to:
* the Latin term for the "animating principle", see vital force
o the Latin translation of Greek psyche
o in Christian contexts, the soul
o see also spirit
o Anima and animus, expressions of the unconscious or true inner self of an individual in Carl Jung's school of analytical psychology
I work inside chemical plants and refineries . I wear an H2S detector almost everywhere I go.
At 5 ppb (parts per billion) you can small H2S. It smells like a rotten egg.
My detector goes off at 10 ppm. That's when I start looking for a wind sock and get the F out there.
At around 300 ppm the H2S does something to your nose and you lose your sense of smell. At this point it is probably too late to run. Chances are your going to die.
H2S is bad stuff. Oh well, I guess it can't be any worse then injecting botulism into your face.
Sounds like a fancy sleeping pill. Take enough of them and you could wind up in lala land permanently.
Too bad suspended animation wouldn't protect them from cosmic rays during the long journey to Mars.
@Shez:
I don't think you a clue as to what "boffin" means!
I meant to say "have a clue", of course!
This is a fairly old (2005) research area. Check out the wikipedia article on Hydrogen Sulfide and you'll find that this treatment doesn't appear to work on larger mammals as it has been tried on both pigs and sheep with no similar effects.
I wonder what the long term effect on the body is while in that state. Do they wake up grogy generally the same like in sci-fi or would you muscles waste and you wake up looking like you where in a full body cast.
You will lose your muscle weight, so you are right in there. Even those who are in wake in space stations lose their strenght and they do training during the time they spent in space.
6 months! thats it!? Seriously people sailed across the ocean (hundreds of years ago) in longer time frames than that.
Actually, the Kubrick film was not an adaptation of Clarke's novel. Kubrick and Clarke wrote the screenplay together based on one of Clarke's earlier stories; all the while, Clarke was working on the (slightly different) novel, which he published just after the film's release.
I'm going to laugh my ass off when they try this for space travel and then the warp drive comes out a month later.
Those poor brave bastards are going to wake up at their destination 10 years later surrounded by suburbs and titty bars and all the people that beat them there.
"black hole drive"
You should be fired just for writing that, it doesnt even exist in the science fiction world (for obvious reasons)!
"black hole drive"You should be fired just for writing that, it doesnt even exist in the science fiction world (for obvious reasons)!
Actually... and man this is me showing serious geek-ness... (In the science fiction world) Romulans from Star Trek used a "Quantum Singularity" AKA Black Hole drive to power their ships movement.
lol, it sounds like a cruel joke, like "we'll have flying pigs by the time we go to Mars"
also, is it forced hibernation, or suspended animation? i.e. do you age? does your body function normally? (i.e. no help to terminal patients )
The most amusing part was seeing Kevin Parrish using the word "boffin".
On these shores? Seriously? Just one more step closer towards "Blighty's" plan for recolonization of the States.
Actually... and man this is me showing serious geek-ness... (In the science fiction world) Romulans from Star Trek used a "Quantum Singularity" AKA Black Hole drive to power their ships movement.
I was going to point out the "Black Horizen" drive system, but yours STTNG Q-Singularity will work as well. B)
I was going to point out the "Black Horizen" drive system, but yours STTNG Q-Singularity will work as well. B)
dkArchon, Great reference to STTNG and kc8dkt, I believe you mean the movie: Event Horizon (the drive would create an artificial black hole, and would use that power to bridge two points in spacetime to reduce journey time - source Wikipedia)
Stargate franchise (creates an event horizon like a black hole but in two locations without a singularity instead connecting them to become a stable wormhole)
Ya, "Black Horizen" was the ship, "Event Horizon" was the name of the movie...
without Mass Effect core...
"In space exploration, suspended animation would be ideal for long hauls across the dark empty void, alleviating the mental stress of claustrophobic conditions, the alienation of family and friends, and the sheer boredom of a 6-month journey (or longer)"
For that matter NASA could use gamers as astronauts. Give them PC and WoW accounts during the journey and they'll be OK. the only problem is when they get to Mars they might not do any work and just play the games.
I think I'd rather imerse myself in games for a few months...
oh, wait a minute - I already do, more fun than this waste of time LMAO
zingam,nice one
)
I don't think that in gas lies the answer to that.They would have better results with...meditation,like in...uhm..."Samsara"
oy... Event Horizon... that movie is freaky
Pointing to examples of SciFi (Notice the Fi part is FICTION) that think it's cool to use black holes as an energy source is in no way cool. Unless you're using hawking radiation as a source, it's a really bad design idea. It's likely a bad idea even if you are. Generally, black holes are the opposite of "power generation".