D
DarkenedOne
Guest
We have all seen in science fiction, most recently in the Halo series. It is a popular idea because it many of the basic problems concerning human spaceflight.
With long distance journeys keeping humans alive and in good physical and mental health is a challenge. The most obvious of these challenges is having enough food, water, energy, and air to survive for long periods of time. The less obvious problems include muscle and bone degeneration as well as psychological effects of being in a relatively small confined space for so long.
Human hibernation of course would eliminate all these problems. If humans were able to hibernate it would mean that their metablism would slow way down. Thus their need for the basic necessities would also go way down. In addition to that the negative effects of muscle and bone degeneration would disappear.
It is a pretty amazing ability that several accidental have indicated is possible in humans. There are also a number of experiments involving animals where artificial hibernation was induced.
This technology is being developed largely for its medical applications. Similar techniques are already used in surgery on isolated parts of the body in order to give the surgeons more time to operate.
With long distance journeys keeping humans alive and in good physical and mental health is a challenge. The most obvious of these challenges is having enough food, water, energy, and air to survive for long periods of time. The less obvious problems include muscle and bone degeneration as well as psychological effects of being in a relatively small confined space for so long.
Human hibernation of course would eliminate all these problems. If humans were able to hibernate it would mean that their metablism would slow way down. Thus their need for the basic necessities would also go way down. In addition to that the negative effects of muscle and bone degeneration would disappear.
It is a pretty amazing ability that several accidental have indicated is possible in humans. There are also a number of experiments involving animals where artificial hibernation was induced.
This technology is being developed largely for its medical applications. Similar techniques are already used in surgery on isolated parts of the body in order to give the surgeons more time to operate.