It is the time of year when some animals begin their hibernation for the winter season. Humans tend to become more sleepy in the winter due to reduced light exposure that signals the body to produce the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. But what if humans can hibernate too like some animals?
Some experts believe it is closer than we think, with a wide range of possible advantages, such as reducing the harm caused by cardiac arrest and stroke, averting starvation, and even permitting space flight.
Induced Human Hibernation Could Be Thing in the Future for Space Travel, Surviving Energetic Crises, Coping With Serious Injury
Hibernation Explained
Hibernation allows many animals, from butterflies to bats, to endure harsh, dark winters without having to seek food or migrate to a warmer climate. According to Discover Wildlife, hibernation slows an animal's metabolism to conserve energy.
However, hibernating is far more fundamental than merely sleeping. It can range from protracted, deep unconsciousness to brief periods of inactivity, depending on the species.
Hibernation has hazards since the sleeping species are exposed to predators and an unpredictable environment. Small mammals like chipmunks, dormice, hamsters, hedgehogs, and bats are examples of hibernating animals. Other examples also include some insects, amphibians, and reptiles.
READ ALSO: Hibernation Explained: Vital for Some Species, but Not Humans
Inducing Hibernation on Humans Could Become a Reality
Humans do not hibernate unlike many animals, but research scientist Dr. Marina Blanco from Duke University who has been studying hibernation in dwarf lemurs said that inducing hibernation on humans could soon become a reality from being a notion in science fiction.
She went on to say that human hibernation may help humans withstand energy shortages and deal with major injuries in order to avoid harm and prolong longevity, MailOnline reported. When it comes to injury, the challenging thing is that it can result in deadly harm when blood flow is rapidly returned to a tissue that has had its supply cut off, such as after a heart attack or stroke.
However, studies on mice have shown that keeping them cool when the blood flow returns then this stress substantially minimized, adds Dr. Michael Ambler, a clinical lecturer at Bristol University who divides his time between working in critical care and investigating animal hibernation.
Part of the reason for this is that being cold reduces metabolic activity in mitochondria, which are basically power stations within the cell,' according to him.
Ambler explains that when the blood returns, the mitochondria quickly reawaken and produce potentially toxic byproducts. Hypothermia protects the essential organs from this surge of activity by reducing the pace at which they turn back on once blood flow resumes.
They argue that even early humans were found to be hibernating to help them survive for long periods of frigid conditions with limited supplies of food and just enough stored far.
Hibernating Humans for Space Travel
Assuming that science does discover a means for humans to hibernate while in space. The Greek Reporter reports that there are still many things to overcome before humanity reaches the stars.
NASA and SpaceX, which collaborate on trips to the International Space Station, must resolve several severe issues. The greatest problem is the bulk of the load required to get to space, which includes the spaceship, passengers, fuel, supplies, and so on.
Every maneuver requires fuel, which is presently transported into orbit on the spacecraft. SpaceX intends to refuel its crewed Starship spaceship in orbit using a separately launched fuel tanker. This implies that far more fuel may be transported into orbit than on a single launch.
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