Recent content by adnico

Thanks Xheesie, I like your spirit! Checklist: return ticket, travel insurance, local currency, bucket and spade, after-sun lotion...

Well, Unclear Engineer, it may be tricky to get an animal to voluntarily hold its breath half-full, or at all, to prepare for being briefly depressurised. Trained human subjects are required, to investigate deliberate managed depressurisation. But it is straightforward to measure the radiative...

OK, Classical Motion, when you cough you close your glottis then release it. Humans can do this from birth onwards. That's also the normal throat action when you hold your breath, though you can also pause your breathing with your glottis open, and when you strain to 'push' at your belly for any...

10/10: This would make an interesting terrestrial research project, perhaps for advanced space medicine students. It could add to human knowledge at a novel frontier, and contribute to the evolution of space suit design and astronautical emergency procedures.

9/10: In my view, a selected and trained breath-holding human could be de-pressurised quickly (in tens of seconds) to zero and be re-pressurised after up to five minutes in a space station airlock, or safely in a terrestrial space medicine lab, with no ill effects. Further, I think they could...

8/10: Relevant fields of theoretical and empirical knowledge and training include: High-altitude mountaineering, e.g. Himalayan ascents without oxygen - some individuals turn out to be better suited than others, and most acquire an additional adaptive capacity to work and remain in very low...

7/10: As with solar radiation, solar flare particles will likely be blocked by the suitably deployed sun shield or vehicle body. The extremely low short-term risk of a micrometeorite strike can be further mitigated at a space station or module by remaining in the lee of the vessel or of a...

6/10: Temperature is not the same phenomenon in a vacuum as in air, with no conduction or convection - think of a Thermos or vacuum flask. While highly advisable to avoid sunshine, a few seconds' or minutes' exposure would not cause thermal burning - it's just very bright light - only UV...

5/10: Some physiological side-effects of zero pressure could be mitigate with a porous elastane (Spandex/Lycra) or similar full-body 'Spiderman'-type elastic suit. Nothing drastic should happen to the skin specifically, in the absence of air pressure. As the article states, the skin is "elastic...

4/10: "Within a very short time, a matter of 10 to 15 seconds, you will become unconscious because of a lack of oxygen"? No. Trained breath-holders in the fields of free-diving and competitive apnea have achieved records of over 24 minutes after pre-breathing 100% oxygen, and over 11 minutes...

3/10: "Bodily fluids, such as saliva and tears" might "begin to boil". But not (with tears) if the subject closes their eyes or wears scleral or "sclera" contact lenses, lubricated with a non-boiling fluid. And not (with saliva) if the subject keeps their mouth closed! Holding or pegging the...

2/10: The pressure difference between standard surface pressure and the vacuum is of course 1 atmosphere, the same as the difference between a modest 10 metre water depth and the surface. It is only necessary to half-exhale before exposure to the vacuum, because the lung's contents, a mix of air...

1/10: Surprisingly, given the journalist's and the quoted scientist's credentials, the article is mostly wrong, or at least misleading, even in the context of accidental exposure, and certainly in a novel context of hypothetical (and feasible) deliberate managed exposure by selected and trained...