As we look to the stars and imagine a future in which humanity explores distant solar systems, an obstacle challenges us. How to endure journeys that could last decades or even centuries? The answer could be hidden in the fascinating world of hibernation.
Imagine trying to reach Proxima Centauri, our closest neighboring star, located 4.24 light years from Earth, 40,208,000,000,000 kilometers, even traveling at speeds close to the speed of light, the journey would take decades. For missions of this type, conventional solutions are simply not enough, not only because of the logistics of keeping astronauts alive for so long, but also because of the physiological challenges of living in microgravity and the psychological impact of isolation in extremes.
Hibernation offers an intriguing solution, allowing astronauts to sleep for possibly even prolonging their lives. Although it sounds like science fiction, studies Recent studies suggest that we are closer to this dream than we imagine. A study led by Gerald Kerth of the University of Greifswald in Germany was recently published and analyzed the behavior of blood cells from different species of bats, some that hibernate and others that do not.
Scientists focused on erythrocytes, a specific type of red blood cell responsible for transporting oxygen around the body during hibernation. These animals face body temperatures that drop drastically, sometimes to values close to 10 degrees. The big question was, how do these cells adapt to such extreme conditions? The results were surprising.
As the hibernating bats' body temperature dropped from 37 degrees to about 23, blood cells dramatically changed shape and behavior, becoming more viscous and less elastic, adjusting to the cold conditions to conserve energy. But here's the most fascinating detail, the bats continued to adapt their cells even when the temperature dropped to about 10 degrees, on the other hand, human cells stopped responding, indicating that we still have a lot to learn about how our bodies handle the extreme cold.
What does this mean for future interstellar missions? Well, hibernation remains a distant goal, but understanding how bats regulate their metabolism in the cold could be the first step in recreating these conditions in humans. However, immediate practical applications could be revolutionary in medicine; procedures such as deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, which already uses reduced temperatures to perform complex surgeries, could benefit from this research.
Manipulating human mechanical properties inspired by bats could lead to advances in drug delivery and treatments related to blood circulation. In the future, hibernation may become one of the pillars of space exploration, allowing humans to embark on interstellar missions by sleeping at the sound of a simple command and waking up decades later. Meanwhile, we continue to send robots.
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