Author Topic: cryostasis  (Read 9913 times)

Offline sciencebuff6513

  • Member
  • Posts: 34
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 0
cryostasis
« on: 01/26/2009 06:56 am »
i know this is a dumb question, but is it even possible to hold people in cryostasis for long voyages like to mars. Or even just put the astronauts under anesthesia for most of the trip with machines to keep their vitals in check. Is this just hollywood folklore ala rocket man or is it theoretically possible? 

Offline Lars_J

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6160
  • California
  • Liked: 677
  • Likes Given: 195
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #1 on: 01/26/2009 07:18 am »
Who knows... But the certainly is ongoing research in the related fields. Don't bet on it anytime soon though. :)

Offline sciencebuff6513

  • Member
  • Posts: 34
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #2 on: 01/26/2009 07:22 am »
lets unfreeze Walt and ask him if it works  ;D ....btw the disney people don't really like it when you ask them if his frozen head is somewhere in the park. it gets you thrown out might quick.

Offline Lampyridae

  • Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2641
  • South Africa
  • Liked: 949
  • Likes Given: 2056
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #3 on: 01/26/2009 10:52 pm »
Some form of hibernation is the best bet. As for cryo, at the moment, expanding ice crystals puncture cell walls and turn your brain into hamburger. The solution to that would be very high-tech. There's also the issue of radiation damage; when you're in cryostasis, cells can't repair themselves / make new ones so after a hundred years or so you need to be thawed to heal yourself.

Offline Suzy

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 625
  • Melbourne, Australia
    • RuSpace - my Russian spaceflight website!
  • Liked: 40
  • Likes Given: 187
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #4 on: 01/27/2009 01:14 am »
Hibernation at Wikipedia (and an ESA study). If scientists could figure out how animals do it, then maybe they could apply that to humans.

Offline kevin-rf

  • Elite Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8823
  • Overlooking the path Mary's little Lamb took..
  • Liked: 1318
  • Likes Given: 306
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #5 on: 01/27/2009 01:18 am »
There's also the issue of radiation damage; when you're in cryostasis, cells can't repair themselves / make new ones so after a hundred years or so you need to be thawed to heal yourself.

Oddly enough seeds seem to handle the free radical damage from normal background radiation just fine... Might be related to the fact they are packed with anti oxidants (The B vitamins and vitamin E).

Odd little fact, in the early 1900's the industrialized world switched away from localy ground stone mills that milled wheat fresh to large industrial steel mills that would strip the bran and germ (Fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E) out of the flour to make it shelf stable. Since then out heart disease, cancer rates, diabetes rates, chrons rates have sky rocketed ... Off topic tin hat alert I know, I did notice several positives in my health when we switched to milling our own flour.
If you're happy and you know it,
It's your med's!

Offline sciencebuff6513

  • Member
  • Posts: 34
  • Liked: 1
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #6 on: 01/27/2009 03:55 am »
maybe hibernation in animals is cause by a hormone released by the brain like triptophan. Its that chemical that is found in turkeys

Offline rdale

  • Assistant to the Chief Meteorologist
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10390
  • Lansing MI
  • Liked: 1415
  • Likes Given: 171
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #7 on: 01/27/2009 04:07 am »
I've never lived on a farm, but I wasn't aware that turkeys hibernate?

...and in any case, I can't find any connection between that chemical and hibernation. What's the link?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan
« Last Edit: 01/27/2009 04:08 am by rdale »

Offline Lars_J

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 6160
  • California
  • Liked: 677
  • Likes Given: 195
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #8 on: 01/27/2009 06:18 am »
I think the point was just that eating turkey makes you sleepy... :D

Offline rdale

  • Assistant to the Chief Meteorologist
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10390
  • Lansing MI
  • Liked: 1415
  • Likes Given: 171
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #9 on: 01/27/2009 01:27 pm »
Click the link - it's not the turkey, it's the fixin's ;)

Offline Lampyridae

  • Veteran
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2641
  • South Africa
  • Liked: 949
  • Likes Given: 2056
Re: cryostasis
« Reply #10 on: 01/28/2009 06:00 am »
There's also the issue of radiation damage; when you're in cryostasis, cells can't repair themselves / make new ones so after a hundred years or so you need to be thawed to heal yourself.

Oddly enough seeds seem to handle the free radical damage from normal background radiation just fine... Might be related to the fact they are packed with anti oxidants (The B vitamins and vitamin E).

Odd little fact, in the early 1900's the industrialized world switched away from localy ground stone mills that milled wheat fresh to large industrial steel mills that would strip the bran and germ (Fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E) out of the flour to make it shelf stable. Since then out heart disease, cancer rates, diabetes rates, chrons rates have sky rocketed ... Off topic tin hat alert I know, I did notice several positives in my health when we switched to milling our own flour.

[tin hat]You wouldn't believe how pure and refined the flour and rice here is in Japan, but people are pretty healthy still (albeit chronically overworked).[/tin hat]

On topic:

I recall that researchers succesfully re-animated a frog that was frozen in a glacier. Frogs are idiotic, robust organisms but they didn't mention that it keeled over from massive cumulative radiation poisoning. Perhaps it's a matter of scaling...

>EDIT<
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/feb/biology-of-cryogenics

Apparently it's a matter of temperature. Metabolic processes only cease at -321 Fahrenheit (whatever that is in metric) so seeds etc. are still alive and can repair tissue damage. Also interesting are these frogs that survive by filling their cells with antifreeze.
« Last Edit: 01/28/2009 06:13 am by Lampyridae »

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
0