Space Cancer Begone, Via Terrestrial Stroke Drug?
(Image Credit: Pat Kenny, via National Cancer Institute)
Despite the beauty and tranquility that comes with viewing the cosmos close up, the reality is space is a very dangerous place thanks to radiation.
Aside from the fact that it can turn your brain into mush, space radiation can also encourage cancer to form, leading to an early death for a future space settler.
Fortunately a drug designed to fight off strokes may also help space colonists defeat a future foe.
(Haaretz) Israeli scientists have identified a substance that can kill cancerous cells without harming healthy ones, paving the way for more effective cancer treatment. [...]
The substance identified by the researchers, which delays cell proliferation in healthy and cancerous cells, is a component of a drug developed a decade ago to preserve nerve cells and prevent them from dying after a stroke.
But while the drug causes the rapid death of cancer cells, healthy cells activate a mechanism that overcomes the delay in proliferation within hours, and those cells continue to proliferate exactly like cells not exposed to the substance.
This is really good news, especially considering that there are very few radiation safe worlds within our star system.
If perfected, this drug (along with an anti-radiation drug) could enable humans to safely dwell upon Mars, Callisto and (with heavy shielding) Ganymede too.
Read More
Future Martian Colonies Powered By Algae?
(Hat Tip: IsraGood, Image Credit: Ken Rust via Got Algae?)
Mars is cold. It’s unbelievably cold. In order for future colonists to avoid freezing to death (as well as their machines), they are going to need a source of energy to provide heat.
While innovative solar power may be able to help keep a small outpost alive, it will probably not be able to power large settlements.
Even though nuclear power plants have proven their worth as far as energy goes, Earthly politics may prevent them from being used on Mars, as launching anything nuclear has the side affect of making a million minds nervous.
In order to establish thriving cities upon the pink deserts of Mars, future colonists may have to turn towards algae in order to keep their cities (and rovers) alive.
(Haaretz.com) “I am constantly dumbfounded by this plant. This little thing is the baseline for the production of oxygen in the world; it knows how to use carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen. It amazes me that despite this, algae are not given enough respect, and instead are treated like green slime.” [...]
Berzin, the founder of GreenFuel Technologies – a U.S. company that produces green fuel from algae – discovered that “green slime” contains one of the keys to the alternative fuel the world is seeking. His company is the first ever to develop and produce biofuels from algae that are bred on gases emitted by power plants. It might sound like some sort of magic trick to put algae, CO2 and sunlight into a box and come out with fuel, but Berzin did it.
The fuel from these algae may not only help to keep the lights on within future Martian cities, but also enable them to develop faster (human driven) rovers, as the solar powered ones on Mars are definitely lacking in the speed department.
Since Mars has plenty of CO2 within its atmosphere, future colonists could easily pull this gas from the Martian environment, as well as from “the nostrils” of humans and pigs (after they exhale that is).
Mars also has no shortage of water, and while it will have to be heavily filtered, it could be more than enough to satisfy the thirst of these terrestrial algae.
Update (3/18/10): Removed video due to errors in display.
Israel Preparing For Space Warfare?
This is probably in response to Iran’s desire to become a space power, which isn’t too surprising giving the regimes historical doubts regarding the holocaust. (note: which is absurd if you ask me)
(Jerusalem Post) From a purely operational perspective, [Israel Air Force chief Maj.-Gen. Eliezer] Shkedy added, Israel needed to become fully autonomous in its space industry and develop its own capabilities. While not relating to China’s motivations for destroying its satellite in the fashion that it did, Shkedy said the message “cannot be ignored.”
“Battle in space is on our agenda, whether we want it there or not. We need to understand how we develop and protect our space assets at the relevant time. Within five to 10 years this will sadly be very relevant. There may be those who would seek to harm our forces in space, as they would our forces on land and at sea. We could face this reality in a high-intensity conflict in the future,” Shkedy said.
With Israel taking steps to defend its space in space (note: no pun intended), other nations will be forced to take similar measures in order to simply stay where they are in the world hierarchy.
Although their will always be a potential for us wiping ourselves off the face of the Earth, a benefit to this military space race could be greater investment in space technology, and perhaps a re-prioritizing of space in general. This will hopefully result in us actually visiting the worlds we see through our telescope, instead of talking about them from afar.
Content Copyright 2006-2009 of Colony Worlds. All Rights Reserved.
Violators (and hosts) can be prosecuted under national and international laws.
Establish First Contact (& Subscribe)
Love of Lunar
Martian Delights
Interplanetary Essays
