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Sub-Zero Squirrels
DesertFalcon writes "There's a Wired article about squirrels in the Arctic whose body temperatures drop below freezing when they hibernate. Scientists have the goal of applying this to humans in the long run. Could this be the answer to problems with long-distance space travel?" We had a previous story on this.
Could this be the answer to problems with long-distance space travel?
That depends on how many squirrels you can pack onto the ship.
These ground squirrels are probably deeply adapted in multidimensional ways to the low temperatures. In contrast, the biochemical pathways of people are all tuned to operate at normal body temperature. I doubt that there is an easy way to make the human body hiberate at low temperature. Too many systems would be affected or thrown out-of-balance by the cold.
/. already). Helping astronauts retain bone mass during zero-G would involve a less severe chemical rejiggering than creating full-fledged cold-body hibernation.
Nonetheless, we can learn from hibernating animals. One area that may be promising is how bears maintain bone density during hibernation (pardon my potential redundancy if this was posetd on
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Or we could start freezing the useless and parasitic parts of the population and use them for building materials.
I, for one, would like to be able to buy a cord of assorted frozen politicians, lawyers, telemarketers, and SCO executives and build a log cabin of them. This may only work in northern regions though and you'd still have to insulate them to keep the summer heat from reawakening them, because that is a nightmare beyond imagining. Imagine your house beginning to yammer at you in mid-spring and reach a full-blast talk-fest in August until quietening down in October.
We've got plenty of useless people in society...why not do something useful with them? Building materials. Lawn gnomes. Support beams for coal mines. Nuclear moderating rods. If we ever need to run dangerous medical tests we can reanimate them and they'll be perfecty useful again! Or we could freeze them into hibernation for most of the year except for a designated hunting season in March when they are warmed up and turned loose in a few game reserves.
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Stop the Slashdot Effect! Don't read the articles!
You may be completely correct. The only possible explanation of why this is more interesting than those fish (and I may be off in left field with this - so correct me if I am) aren't mammals. A squirrel is interesting because it is a mammal. Obviously the hibernation situation is the big step but I guess I see this as proof of concept that an animal similar to humans, moreso than fish anyway, can survive below freezing. Thanks for your comment nonetheless.
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I bet she didn't even need an injection to achieve that with your subtly
Is it a boat?
Everybody knows they already tried this with long-distance space travel. The problem wasn't freezing people, it was getting HAL to look after them.
Duh.
Besides, didn't we just leave this party?
Europe tried that a few hundred years ago and it came back to bite them in the ass :-)
No, the problem is that solid water has a larger volume that it's liquid form. Freeze an organism containing water and you'll rip cellular stuctures apart. There wouldn't be any problem if the extreme cold ground matabolism to a halt because given decent enough thermal conditions some reactions would occour naturally and provide enough heat to provide for the more delicate ones. Unfortunately you can't just shut down before anoxia because water crystals destroy those delicate biochemical reactors that keep you alive (that's the reason frozen fruit looses it's consistency and taste when frozen).
Mi domando chi à il mandante di tutte le cazzate che faccio - Altan
Hey, a bit off the wall, but wouldn't this be the answer to unemployment as well? Sure you'd have to figure out something to represent you so you don't have to be defrosted for every interview (as I assume the frosting/defrosting part is the worst), but I think that can be solved.
Think about it, you get fired, and instead of heading to the bar and spending your last paycheck on booze, you step into a freezer and then when you wake up someone's ready to do final negotiations on salary & benefits with you. You've probably even made money from the unemployment checks. Now, if they could only figure out a way to have you virtually play video games the entire time you're frozen.
(And no, I'm not serious, although it's cool to think about)
Kurdt
I'm not anti-social. Just pro-technology.
Freeze an organism containing water and you'll rip cellular stuctures apart.
Actually, there is a species of frog that freezes solid during the winter, and thaws out (and lives!) in the summer. More info here
Ita erat quando hic adveni.