Jan 28, 2024 06:17 PM
https://theness.com/neurologicablog/how-...-to-space/
EXCERPTS: My recent article on settling Mars has generated a lot of discussion, some of it around the basic concept of how difficult it is for humans to live anywhere but a thin envelope of air hugging the surface of the Earth...
[...] Perhaps the optimal way to most fully adapt humans to alien environments is to completely replace the human body with one that is adapted. This could be a robot body, a genetically engineered biological one, or a cyborg combination...
[...] One option might be taking virtual control of the “brain” of the avatar [...] This way you can remain safely ensconced in a protective environment, while your Avatar runs around a world that would instantly kill you. ... But this approach has a severe limitation – you have to be relatively close to your Avatar. [...] You could not be on Earth, because the delay in communication would be too great. So essentially this approach is limited by the speed of light.
[...] For existing adults, genetic engineering options are likely limited, but could still be helpful. For example, inserting a gene that produces a protein derived from tardigrades could protect our DNA from radiation damage. We could also adapt our skin to block out more radiation, and be resistant to UV damage. We could adapt our bones and muscles to different surface gravities. We may even find ways to adapt to microgravity, allowing our bodies to better handle fluids with gravity.
For adults, using medical interventions, such as drugs, is another option. Drugs could theoretically compensate for lower oxygen tension, radiation damage, altered cardiac function, neutralizing toxins, and other physiological responses to alien environments. Cyborg implants are yet another option, reinforcing our bones, enhancing cardiac function, shielding light or radiation, or adapting to low pressure.
But we could more profoundly adapt humans to alien environments with germ line genetic engineering – altering the genes that control development from an embryo. We could then make profound alterations to the anatomy and physiology of humans. This would create, in essence, a subspecies of humans, adapted to a specific environment – Homo martianus or Homo lunus... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: My recent article on settling Mars has generated a lot of discussion, some of it around the basic concept of how difficult it is for humans to live anywhere but a thin envelope of air hugging the surface of the Earth...
[...] Perhaps the optimal way to most fully adapt humans to alien environments is to completely replace the human body with one that is adapted. This could be a robot body, a genetically engineered biological one, or a cyborg combination...
[...] One option might be taking virtual control of the “brain” of the avatar [...] This way you can remain safely ensconced in a protective environment, while your Avatar runs around a world that would instantly kill you. ... But this approach has a severe limitation – you have to be relatively close to your Avatar. [...] You could not be on Earth, because the delay in communication would be too great. So essentially this approach is limited by the speed of light.
[...] For existing adults, genetic engineering options are likely limited, but could still be helpful. For example, inserting a gene that produces a protein derived from tardigrades could protect our DNA from radiation damage. We could also adapt our skin to block out more radiation, and be resistant to UV damage. We could adapt our bones and muscles to different surface gravities. We may even find ways to adapt to microgravity, allowing our bodies to better handle fluids with gravity.
For adults, using medical interventions, such as drugs, is another option. Drugs could theoretically compensate for lower oxygen tension, radiation damage, altered cardiac function, neutralizing toxins, and other physiological responses to alien environments. Cyborg implants are yet another option, reinforcing our bones, enhancing cardiac function, shielding light or radiation, or adapting to low pressure.
But we could more profoundly adapt humans to alien environments with germ line genetic engineering – altering the genes that control development from an embryo. We could then make profound alterations to the anatomy and physiology of humans. This would create, in essence, a subspecies of humans, adapted to a specific environment – Homo martianus or Homo lunus... (MORE - missing details)