Just a reminder.To give the equivalent protection that Earth's atmosphere provides people at Sea Level takes about 3m of Martian Regolith.
Thinking of my adolescent son, playing in front of his computer, I don't think he sees natural light more than a few minutes every week
Literacy in general is a risk factor in nearsightedness. Reading books.
So, what you are saying is that the Mars colonists living in tunnels and caves for the first couple of generations will become a race of blind moles?
Quote from: Robotbeat on 03/05/2017 03:17 amLiteracy in general is a risk factor in nearsightedness. Reading books.No, that's what the new research tested. It's not books or TV or video-games. (Or close work in general.) It's that kids who preferred those activities tended to spend less time in the sun. Once you correct for that, the link with reading/education, or other activities is eliminated.
But how much of Earth's atmosphere is needed for adequate radiation shielding? After all, people live quite happily in Nepal and Tibet, which have approximately only 30% of the atmospheric pressure at sea level (ref).Also, Mars does have an atmosphere, which provides some shielding, and the Solar radiation flux is less.
(The Sydney Myopia Study tracked 4000 school-age children from 55 schools. The only statistically significant link was time spent outdoors. Follow-up animal studies showed the that light levels alone can alter eye elongation (the cause of myopia.) It seems to be related to dopamine levels in the eye, which is related to switching between rod and cone dominated vision. Block the dopamine pathway (yet further follow-up research) and you not only induce 100% myopia in the animals, but eliminate the protective effect of light exposure. In a school trial in Sydney, they added 50 minutes of additional sun exposure to the school day, and saw a 25% reduction in myopia. In Taiwan, researchers were able to convince authorities to add 100 minutes of extra sun exposure to school days, and saw a 50% reduction in myopia.)
Given Mars is so much farther away from the Sun it already starts out with a lower solar level than Earth. Multiply by lack of regular exposure and the long term effects could be severe.Unless people are prepared to look at "anti-myopia" pills.
Quote from: Paul451 on 03/05/2017 03:45 amThe Sydney Myopia Study tracked 4000 school-age children from 55 schools. The only statistically significant link was time spent outdoors. Follow-up animal studies showed the that light levels alone can alter eye elongation (the cause of myopia.) It seems to be related to dopamine levels in the eye, which is related to switching between rod and cone dominated vision. [...] This is very exciting, suggesting myopia can be radically reduced in developed countries.
The Sydney Myopia Study tracked 4000 school-age children from 55 schools. The only statistically significant link was time spent outdoors. Follow-up animal studies showed the that light levels alone can alter eye elongation (the cause of myopia.) It seems to be related to dopamine levels in the eye, which is related to switching between rod and cone dominated vision. [...]
Given Mars is so much farther away from the Sun it already starts out with a lower solar level than Earth.
Or have brighter indoor lighting?
Quote from: gospacex on 03/07/2017 02:32 pmOr have brighter indoor lighting?If you are currently in a brightly lit room, the lighting level will be around 1000 lux. We need 30-40,000 lux. So multiply the number of lights in your room by 40-fold over the same area. Then, even allowing for LED efficiencies, think about the power consumed, the heat released, and the annoyance of working on anything with a screen. It seems unlikely anywhere outside a grow-chamber (indoor greenhouse).