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Give thanks: Sweet potatoes in space
PURDUE (US) — Thanksgiving in space may one day come with all the trimmings, including fresh sweet potatoes.Cary Mitchell, a Purdue University professor of horticulture, and Gioia Massa, a former...
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Germs in space: Keeping astronauts healthy
BROWN (US) — On a long spaceflight, it could be easy for microbes to get out of control. Microgravity weakens the immune system in some ways while it also increases the virulence and antimicrobial...
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Travel to Mars could damage the brain
U. ROCHESTER (US) — The cosmic radiation that would bombard astronauts on deep space missions to places like Mars could accelerate the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, say researchers. “Galactic cosmic...
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Mars mission shows body’s sodium rhythms
VANDERBILT (US) — Sodium levels in the human body fluctuate rhythmically with seven-day and monthly cycles, a finding that contradicts the prevailing view.Jens Titze, an associate professor of medicine...
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Hear a heartbeat in space with this stethoscope
JOHNS HOPKINS (US) — A new electronic stethoscope designed for NASA could deliver accurate heart and body sounds to medics assessing astronaut health in a noisy spacecraft.Space itself is silent; the...
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Rat study shows deep-space travel could damage the brain
Some rats exposed to the radiation astronauts would face on long deep-space missions develop lapses in attention and slowed reaction times, even when the exposure is extremely low, researchers say. The...
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How to turn astronaut poop into rocket fuel
A new way to make rocket fuel uses something that is usually stored and burned up on re-entry: human waste. In 2006, NASA began making plans to build an inhabited facility on the moon’s surface between...
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NASA asked students to make space furniture
At NASA’s request, five mechanical engineering students designed and assembled a prototype table and chair for astronauts in space or for places like the moon or Mars. The furniture could serve many...
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Why going to Mars isn’t such a crazy idea
Sidney Perkowitz, a physics professor at Emory University, explains why we’re closer than most people think to sending astronauts to Mars and how it might be possible to use the planet’s raw materials...
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Is this the perfect spot for people on Mars?
Scientists have started thinking about the best places on Mars for human exploration and some say a spot called Deuteronilus Mensae may be just right. The location could hold the key to a number of...
View ArticleAstronauts offer science an extreme view of awe
In a photo, Earth might seem unassuming, a fleck, its blue-and-white marbling stark against a black interstellar backdrop. Yet the image likely evokes some reaction. Now imagine seeing this view from...
View ArticleWhy queasy rides in ‘space chair’ are totally disorienting
Imagine you’re a jet fighter pilot being chased by a heat-seeking missile. You undertake evasive maneuvers, climbing and nose-diving, performing barrel rolls and loops, and sharply banking left and...
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Astronauts’ brains change shape in space
Astronauts’ brains compress and expand in space, MRIs before and after missions show. Researchers say the findings could have implications for treating other health conditions that affect brain...
View ArticleSpace changed gut bacteria of these twin astronauts
Researchers studying the gut microbes of Scott and Mark Kelly, NASA astronauts and identical twin brothers, have found that spaceflight causes changes, but it’s not clear what the changes mean. The...
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Microgravity may keep fractures from healing in space
Bioengineers have discovered that microgravity, experienced in space, may inhibit cartilage formation. The research suggests that healing fractures for astronauts in space—or patients on long bed rest...
View Article6 ways health would suffer on a trip to Mars
NASA has aims to have humans on Mars by the 2030s—but long-distance space travel comes with a unique set of health problems. How will those who make the trip cope with the mental and physical rigors of...
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This tube could be the spot for a city on the moon
A large open lava tube in the Marius Hills region of the moon could protect astronauts from hazardous conditions on the surface. No one has ever been on the moon longer than three days, largely because...
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Future astronauts could get water from ice on Mars
Researchers have found eight sites where thick deposits of ice beneath the surface of Mars are exposed in faces of eroding slopes. These eight scarps, with slopes as steep as 55 degrees, reveal new...
View ArticleAstronauts may one day turn poo into food
Microbes may one day help astronauts on deep-space missions turn human waste into food, a new study suggests. Researchers have shown it’s possible to rapidly break down solid and liquid waste to grow...
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Is this the perfect spot for people on Mars?
Scientists have started thinking about the best places on Mars for human exploration and some say a spot called Deuteronilus Mensae may be just right. The location could hold the key to a number of...
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