• Space Travel May Be Harmful to the Brain.
    55 replies, posted
[quote] [quote] [IMG]http://www.overclock.net/content/type/61/id/1039625/width/1000/height/2000/flags/LL[/IMG] [/quote] [h2]Space Travel May Be Harmful to the Brain, Study Suggests; Prolonged Cosmic Radiation Exposure Could Hasten Alzheimer's[/h2] As if space travel was not already filled with enough dangers, a new study out today in the journal PLOS ONE shows that cosmic radiation -- which would bombard astronauts on deep space missions to places like Mars -- could accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's disease. "Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts," said M. Kerry O'Banion, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and the senior author of the study. "The possibility that radiation exposure in space may give rise to health problems such as cancer has long been recognized. However, this study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease." While space is full of radiation, the earth's magnetic field generally protects the planet and people in low earth orbit from these particles. However, once astronauts leave orbit, they are exposed to constant shower of various radioactive particles. With appropriate warning, astronauts can be shielded from dangerous radiation associated with solar flares. But there are also other forms of cosmic radiation that, for all intents and purposes, cannot be effectively blocked. Because this radiation exists in low levels, the longer an astronaut is in deep space, the greater the exposure. This is a concern for NASA as the agency is planning manned missions to a distant asteroid in 2021 and to Mars in 2035. The round trip to the red planet, in particular, could take as long as three years. For over 25 years, NASA has been funding research to determine the potential health risks of space travel in an effort to both develop countermeasures and determine whether or not the risks warranted sending men and women on extended missions in deep space. Since that time, several studies have demonstrated the potential cancer, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal impact of galactic cosmic radiation. The study out today for the first time examines the potential impact of space radiation on neurodegeneration, in particular, the biological processes in the brain that contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. O'Banion -- whose research focuses on how radiation affects the central nervous system -- and his team have been working with NASA for over eight years. The researchers studied the impact of a particular form of radiation called high-mass, high-charged (HZE) particles. These particles -- which are propelled through space at very high speeds by the force of exploding stars -- come in many different forms. For this study the researcher chose iron particles. Unlikely hydrogen protons, which are produced by solar flares, the mass of HZE particles like iron, combined with their speed, enable them to penetrate solid objects such as the wall and protective shielding of a spacecraft. "Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," said O'Banion. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete." A portion of the research was conducted at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island. NASA located its research operation at Brookhaven to take advantage of the Lab's particle accelerators which -- by colliding matter together at very high speeds -- can reproduce the radioactive particles found in space. The researchers specifically wanted to examine whether or not radiation exposure had the potential to accelerate the biological and cognitive indicators of Alzheimer's disease, particularly in individuals who may be predisposed to developing the disease. To accomplish this they chose study the impact on animal models of Alzheimer's disease. These particular models have been extensively studied and scientists understand the precise timeframe in which the disease progresses over time. At Brookhaven, the animals were exposed to various doses of radiation, including levels comparable to what astronauts would be experience during a mission to Mars. Back in Rochester, a team of researchers -- including URMC graduate student Jonathan Cherry, who was first author on the paper -- evaluated the cognitive and biological impact of the exposure. The mice underwent a series of experiments during which they had to recall objects or specific locations. The researchers observed that mice exposed to radiation were far more likely to fail these tasks -- suggesting neurological impairment -- earlier than these symptoms would typically appear. The brains of the mice also showed signs of vascular alterations and a greater than normal accumulation of beta amyloid, the protein "plaque" that accumulates in the brain and is one of the hallmarks of the disease. "These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease," said O'Banion. "This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions." Additional co-authors include Jacqueline Williams, Ph.D. and John Olschowka, Ph.D. with URMC and Bin Liu, Ph.D., Jeffrey Frost, and Cynthia Lemere, Ph.D. with Harvard Medical School. The study was funded by NASA. [B]Journal:[/B] Jonathan D. Cherry, et al Galactic Cosmic Radiation Leads to Cognitive Impairment and Increased Aβ Plaque Accumulation in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e53275 DOI: [URL="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0053275"]10.1371/journal.pone.0053275[/URL] ============================================================ Source: [URL]http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121231180632.htm[/URL] [/quote]
"where are we"
There couldn't be a more fitting image :v:
[QUOTE=Jacknife;39048351]"where are we"[/QUOTE] "space?"
I think the Kerbal Space Program is very foretelling of the dangers of space travel. (Especially traumatic death)
So realistically the Fantastic Four would have minor cases of serious brain damage?
[QUOTE=Drewsko;39048430]So realistically the Fantastic Four would have minor cases of serious brain damage?[/QUOTE] The Thing wasn't exactly the shiniest rock.
[QUOTE=Drewsko;39048430]So realistically the Fantastic Four would have minor cases of serious brain damage?[/QUOTE] [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClBbJ7DyqL8[/media]
Does explain all the gay porking in Mass Effect?
oh well
Popping in to bring some information about alzheimers, and what goes on in the brain when one suffers from it. You know about a neuron, right? The brain cell. It consists of a cell body, dendrites (that receives information) and an axon (that sends information). Inside the axon there are fibres called microtubules. These help transport chemicals down to the synapse at the end of the axon that transmits small doses of neurotransmitter fluid when triggered by the electrical impulse known as Action Potential. With alzheimers disease, these microtubules start to disintegrate. The cell starts to have trouble working properly, and if a cell isn't used, it dies. This in turn can trigger a chain reaction, which is often noticed years and years after the first loss of microtubules. That's when a patient gets diagnosed. In general, neurons doesn't regrow (unless we talk about hippocampus and the [url=http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1232646&p=38820364&highlight=#post38820364]olfactory bulb[/url]). So this is permanent damage. [img]http://i.imgur.com/yy6sh.jpg[/img] Here's a quote from Alois Alzheimer's (1864-1915) work A Characteristic Disease of the Cerebral Cortex (1907) [quote]"One of the first disease symptons of a 51-year-old woman was a strong feeling of jealousy toward her husband. Very soon she showed rapidly increasing memory impairments; she could not find her way about her home, she dragged objects to and fro, hid herself, or sometimes thought that people were out to kill her, then she would start to scream loudly. During institutionalization her gestures showed a complete helplessness. She was disoriented as to time and place. From time to time she would state that she did not understand anything, that she felt confused and totally lost. Sometimes she considered the coming of the doctor as an official visit and apologized for not having finished her work, but other times she would start to yell in the fear that the doctor wanted to operate on her; or there were times that she would send him away in complete indignation, uttering phrases that indicated her fear that the doctor wanted to damage her honour. [B]From time to time she was completely delirious, dragging her blankets and sheets to and fro, calling for her husband and daughter, and seeming to have auditory hallucinations. Often she would scream for hours and hours in a horrible voice.[/B]"[/quote] Picture and quote taken from my professor's powerpoint Addendum: I completely forgot to mention about the plaque and tangles, which are products and instigators of alzheimer's disease! For that I am sorry.
What this study [B]doesn't[/B] take into account is that this cosmic radiation can and has been blocked before. You simply need the correct shielding to prevent prolonged contact.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;39048788]What this study [B]doesn't[/B] take into account is that this cosmic radiation can and has been blocked before. You simply need the correct shielding to prevent prolonged contact.[/QUOTE] I quote the OP [quote] For this study the researcher chose iron particles. Unlikely hydrogen protons, which are produced by solar flares, the mass of HZE particles like iron, combined with their speed, enable them to penetrate solid objects such as the wall and protective shielding of a spacecraft. [B]"Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," said O'Banion. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete."[/B][/quote]
How about it is. Considering all radiation in space caused by solar flares.
That plus zero g isn't exactly good for bone structure and muscle.
[QUOTE=ewitwins;39048788]What this study [B]doesn't[/B] take into account is that this cosmic radiation can and has been blocked before. You simply need the correct shielding to prevent prolonged contact.[/QUOTE] But they already have fucking limited mass ratios they already have to work with. If you work out you need to fit 2 tons of shielding for a acceptable flight to Mars, it ain't happening. Not for decades. [editline]1st January 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=Aide;39048830]How about it is. Considering all radiation in space caused by solar flares.[/QUOTE] No? [url]http://msis.jsc.nasa.gov/sections/section05.htm#_5.7_RADIATION[/url]
What's bothersome is that I'm not seeing dose rates in actual numbers, maybe if we talked numbers and the severity of the effect with every particular amount of radiation, this would yield more conclusive results for me. But instead this article just asks you to trust it when it says they used a dose of radiation [I]comparable[/I] to a trip to Mars. The article doesn't tell you the trajectory that it represented (Hohmann, Type 1 or Type 2? Conjuction or Opposition class? Did they take into account a Venus flyby as would be required in an opposition class trajectory? Large differences between them with time in space). Nor did they state that on the surface of Mars, cosmic ray doses are cut in half because half of the sky is covered by Mars, and the other half reduced by Mars' atmosphere, which is, despite common belief, very significant in that most of the radiation hitting the surface first has to go through it, mostly at an angle which greatly increases the shielding effect. On Earth, the magnetic field doesn't cut out all the radiation, especially not the highly charged particles their using in this study, most of that is covered by Earth's atmosphere, so Astronauts spending long times in LEO are exposed to them, some of which [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records"]long enough to be compared to a trip to Mars[/URL] (That is, Type 1 transfer, 6.5 month transit time outbound, 500 days on the surface, and another 6.5 inbound. Note that the main thing needing an analogue is the deep space time, as that is where the [I]vast [/I]majority of radiation is received during a trip like this.) The last bit I'm skeptical about is that this is animal testing, not that I have anything wrong with that, but the effects on humans could be somewhat different. These astronauts who have had comparable dose rates have not had any radiation-educed sickness as a result of their spaceflight, nor would it be expected with conventional knowledge or with the doses they fronted. Maybe I'm wrong and this is a revelation in our understanding of space, or maybe this is just preliminary research that may or may not have been executed correctly, funded by NASA who is liable to expect results, and not extremely relevant in the course of human events. More research may have to be done, but this shouldn't stop anyone.
[QUOTE=MIPS;39048465]Does explain all the gay porking in Mass Effect?[/QUOTE] so you're saying being gay brain damage.
How fucking terrifing would it be if you went to mars but found out you couldn't go back?
[QUOTE=TheDestroyerOfall;39049374]How fucking terrifing would it be if you went to mars but found out you couldn't go back?[/QUOTE] Unless it had been done before, I would kind of always assume that would be the case. Still a little scary, but not unforeseen.
Oh great. My one dream affects the disease that effects my whole family. I went to get to my dream, but my dream makes me forget I made it. [B]Dammit.[/B]
[QUOTE=Vasili;39049094]so you're saying being gay brain damage.[/QUOTE] No he's clearly joking
[QUOTE=TheDestroyerOfall;39049374]How fucking terrifing would it be if you went to mars but found out you couldn't go back?[/QUOTE] More likely than it seems. Because they have to stay there obviously for like one and a half year before they can leave to Earth again. What if the economy has collapsed by then?
Doesn't zero G harm the body over time in a lot of ways also?
[QUOTE=kaine123;39050589]Doesn't zero G harm the body over time in a lot of ways also?[/QUOTE] Zero G? fuckit who needs bones!
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;39050638]Zero G? fuckit who needs bones![/QUOTE] And sight for that matter.
[QUOTE=kaine123;39050589]Doesn't zero G harm the body over time in a lot of ways also?[/QUOTE] Without constant, consistent exercise it does, it's why astronauts come home weaker than before. The "zero G" eliminates the need for your body to use the muscles for things it normally does, such as support yourself, walk, jump, etc. The muscles holding your bones and everything else together gradually disappear(muscular atrophy) to the point that some bones even "float" away from each other, and eventual deterioration of your skeleton. But that's only zero G's effects. There's a whole slew of different effects from space onto the human body, but the one mentioned in the article has a good explanation on Wikipedia: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_spaceflight_on_the_human_body#Increased_radiation_levels[/url]
[QUOTE=Gnomical;39048371]"space?"[/QUOTE] haha!very funny -.- [editline]1st January 2013[/editline] [B]it's bold[/B]
[QUOTE=Y0mama123;39050979]haha!very funny -.- [editline]1st January 2013[/editline] [B]it's bold[/B][/QUOTE] You're missing the joke.
[QUOTE=Porkychop~;39049082]What's bothersome is that I'm not seeing dose rates in actual numbers, maybe if we talked numbers and the severity of the effect with every particular amount of radiation, this would yield more conclusive results for me. But instead this article just asks you to trust it when it says they used a dose of radiation [I]comparable[/I] to a trip to Mars. The article doesn't tell you the trajectory that it represented (Hohmann, Type 1 or Type 2? Conjuction or Opposition class? Did they take into account a Venus flyby as would be required in an opposition class trajectory? Large differences between them with time in space). Nor did they state that on the surface of Mars, cosmic ray doses are cut in half because half of the sky is covered by Mars, and the other half reduced by Mars' atmosphere, which is, despite common belief, very significant in that most of the radiation hitting the surface first has to go through it, mostly at an angle which greatly increases the shielding effect. On Earth, the magnetic field doesn't cut out all the radiation, especially not the highly charged particles their using in this study, most of that is covered by Earth's atmosphere, so Astronauts spending long times in LEO are exposed to them, some of which [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spaceflight_records"]long enough to be compared to a trip to Mars[/URL] (That is, Type 1 transfer, 6.5 month transit time outbound, 500 days on the surface, and another 6.5 inbound. Note that the main thing needing an analogue is the deep space time, as that is where the [I]vast [/I]majority of radiation is received during a trip like this.) The last bit I'm skeptical about is that this is animal testing, not that I have anything wrong with that, but the effects on humans could be somewhat different. These astronauts who have had comparable dose rates have not had any radiation-educed sickness as a result of their spaceflight, nor would it be expected with conventional knowledge or with the doses they fronted. Maybe I'm wrong and this is a revelation in our understanding of space, or maybe this is just preliminary research that may or may not have been executed correctly, funded by NASA who is liable to expect results, and not extremely relevant in the course of human events. More research may have to be done, but this shouldn't stop anyone.[/QUOTE] Curious, did you read the journal, or just the article? Articles tend to truncate a lot of the journals material & methods for public consumption.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.