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ESA To Study Human Hibernation
colonist writes "The European Space Agency (ESA) plans to study human hibernation for long-duration space voyages (a la 'Alien', '2001'). Although 'practical hibernation mechanisms are at least a decade away', ESA researchers will make initial inquiries into DADLE (D-Ala,D-Leu-enkephalin), an opium-like drug that triggers hibernation in ground squirrels and human cells. Other subjects of interest include dobutamine, a drug that maintains muscle, and the Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur, the only primate known to hibernate."
Study making smarter bears capable of space travel! They already hibernate.
Perhaps all long-journey astronauts should be women. There is a well known but seldom used gene present in women that causes immediate hibernation. It has been called the sex-gene. Once the word sex is mentioned the women immediately roll over and are asleep within seconds. This will continue until sex has not been mentioned for at least eight hours. If an automated speaker was constructed to force the sex-gene into operation every 6 or so hours the women should (in theory) remain unconscious.
Yes my gf reads Slashdot. No, I am not getting any tonight.
for inspiration. They can sleep for days at a time.
The Dude abides.
ESA researchers will make initial inquiries into DADLE (D-Ala,D-Leu-enkephalin), an opium-like drug that triggers hibernation in ground squirrels and human cells. Other subjects of interest include dobutamine, a drug that maintains muscle, and the Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur, the only primate known to hibernate."
An alternative solution is to design a virtual environment simulator that will make ground squirrels and Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemurs believe they are jumping across tree branches, when in fact they are piloting an interstellar spaceships.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
"Don't worry sir, the device you're about to trust your life to is the result of years of research with the Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur."
Interesting but I think they're going to need to work out how to prevent bone loss if you're going to hibernate for a significant portion of the time in space. Anyway I hope there going for a basic science approach to the subject because if dobutamine maintains muscle mass during hibernation then it might also help with coma/bed-ridden patients.
Having someone sleep indefinately is only a matter of controlled sedatives. I imagine their biggest problem is going to be organ atrophy.
If they solve that, then they'll have an extremely valuable spinoff technology that will help everyone from the temporarily wheelchair-bound to the hospitalized.
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Not everybody is attached to their family and relatives, some might even appreciate a century-time shift in order to refresh their relations.
Trolling using another account since 2005.
Having a name like that is a survival mechanism. You see, when anybody's hunting them, by the time they say, "Hey, there's a Madagascan fat-tailed dwarf lemur!" it's gotten away clean.
They say the first thing to go is your penis. Well, it's either that or your brain. I forget which...
Of course, the last time I heard something like that, it was from a bartender who suggested a drink and told me "it was as close to legal opium as you could get".
So, one interesting night later, I have this advice: Stay away from Chartreuse.
That would be nice, but unfortunately hibernating is not the same as suspended animation. Hibernating animals still lose muscle mass and use energy. The metabolic rate decreases but does not stop in hibernation.
...wait for it...
Lemur's Game
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)