Hawking: Humans must colonize other planets
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Oops, that would be like that crystal bone disease. I think some cosmonauts have stayed in space for over a year. 6 years is much longer. Might have to build an artificial gravity ship (one of those with turning wheels).
Over two years actually... guy looks pretty good for now. Astronauts who were on SkyLab for a long time did have muscle problems when they came back though. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7852[^]
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He's not the boss of me.
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Oops, that would be like that crystal bone disease. I think some cosmonauts have stayed in space for over a year. 6 years is much longer. Might have to build an artificial gravity ship (one of those with turning wheels).
Yes, but, as Professor Hawking pointed out, it would not seem like six years to the astronauts making the journey. This is because of the effects of special relativity. As velocity increases, the passage of time slows. This has been verified by experimentation. At near the speed of light time would pass so slowly that what we on earth would measure as six years the astronauts would only measure as a matter of months or weeks or maybe even days depending on how long it took to reach maximum velocity.
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Gary Kirkham wrote:
I had another thought. Maybe we need a hospital in space that cares for long term bedridden patients.
Unfortunately the results of microgravity prolonged exposure could be worse than any other health problems: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Microgravity_Bad_Hair_Day.html[^]
The most serious concern is the loss of bone calcium that increases with the length of a mission and shows no sign of cessation. The calcium loss from bones subjected to extended microgravity takes place at 10 times the rate of an elderly person suffering from osteoporosis._________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:
Unfortunately the results of microgravity prolonged exposure could be worse than any other health problems: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F\_Microgravity\_Bad\_Hair\_Day.html\[^\] The most serious concern is the loss of bone calcium that increases with the length of a mission and shows no sign of cessation. The calcium loss from bones subjected to extended microgravity takes place at 10 times the rate of an elderly person suffering from osteoporosis.
If you are staying in space permenetly that wouldn't be an issue
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Jeffry J. Brickley wrote:
Unfortunately the results of microgravity prolonged exposure could be worse than any other health problems: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F\_Microgravity\_Bad\_Hair\_Day.html\[^\] The most serious concern is the loss of bone calcium that increases with the length of a mission and shows no sign of cessation. The calcium loss from bones subjected to extended microgravity takes place at 10 times the rate of an elderly person suffering from osteoporosis.
If you are staying in space permenetly that wouldn't be an issue
ProSlacker wrote:
If you are staying in space permenetly that wouldn't be an issue
Actually it is.... loss of calcium eventually results in a host of illnesses as well as loss of teeth and hair. Calcium loss would result in much shorter life-spans which is why they are researching just how much gravity the human body needs to maintain normal bodily functions (life). The cosmonaughts who stayed up for a year were already suffering a host of illnesses from microgravity. Bringing them down only made them physically weak from muscle loss, but they were a long time recovering, not just in bones but with a host of internal issues. Calcium absorbancy is just one of the issues, it is simply the worst. Even if you never intended to come down, permanent exile to microgravity would accelerate your demise.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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Over two years actually... guy looks pretty good for now. Astronauts who were on SkyLab for a long time did have muscle problems when they came back though. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7852[^]
"Quality Software since 1983!"
http://www.smoothjazzy.com/ - see the "Programming" section for (freeware) JazzySiteMaps, a simple application to generate .Net and Google-style sitemaps!And none of this even takes any account of cosmic radiation, possibly an even greater health impact than bone and muscle loss. Arrived at the destination planet, better hope is has something like Earth's Van Allen Radiation belts, or we'd be no better off. To find a suitable planet, you'll have to go much further than the closest ones! A worst possibility: man may be as indigenous to Earth as a crab to a shell.
codewizard
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It's an "all your eggs in one basket" type scenerio. Yes the people colonizing other planets would have the same hatreds, same political issues, same tendancy toward violence that is part of our society at large. But if xx colony goes it won't take Earth, if Earth goes xx colony won't. The more colonies the greater chance of at least one surviving, is the theory.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
Also, if we colonised a planet say orbiting Proxima Centauri (the nearest star to Sol), by the time we heard about a nuclear war back on Earth (assuming we would), they'd all have been dead for nearly 4 years. Communication can't travel faster than light any more than we can. Not even bad news can travel faster than light. ;P