“Exposure to short duration gravity load changes including microgravity, as sustained in a parabolic flight statistically significantly decreases the sperm motility and vitality of human fresh sperm samples,” the team found, adding that this may have huge importance for any prolonged human settlement missions in space.
“In the future, should humans remain in space for long periods of time with exposure to different microgravity and hypergravity peaks, which could range from months to a number of years, reproduction may pose a problem to be tackled.”
The mechanism by which sperm motility was decreased remains unknown, with further study needed.
Can we please stop pretending that future space colonists will live their whole lives in microgravity? Nobody seriously suggests that as an option, that’s stupid. Countless studies have shown that for proper biological development, humans (and in fact nearly all organisms) need gravity. But for large space stations, spin gravity is actually not that freaking hard. If you can create a large enough station to support a sizable colony, it does not take much more engineering to make it spin.
Imagine turning on a black light inside the Vomit/Semen Comet.
We’re never getting off this rock. Lol
I really hope not. Looking at how humanity has managed this world, I think it’s for the best if the laws of physics and biology are such that we’re never able to escape our solar system.
Large developed organisms don’t travel the stars. The building blocks of life travel. I think anyway. Maybe that’s too oversimplified.
After sparing this paper a fair bit of attention I feel I’ve wasted it.
Nowhere in the paper could i find in what conditions the test samples were kept during the experiment. This is pretty basic stuff. At this stage I’d wage sloshing was the issue.
Reading this part of the methodology:
"2.2 Initial sperm analysis
After liquefaction…
[Two paragraphs later, in the same section: ] After this first analysis, the 15 sperm samples were split into two fractions. All the samples were exposed to ‘Parabolic flight’ (split 1) and to…"
Did they liquefied the samples and tested like that? Whaa?
The “After this first analysis” should not be in the “2.2 Initial sperm analysis”. It just shouldn’t!
Then I think “15 sperm samples were split into two fractions”. … “the samples were exposed to ‘Parabolic flight’ (split 1)” — splits, fractions, what a mess!! At this stage I’ve wasted enough.
The paper should be retracted, the reviewers spanked and the editor fired.
Sloshing? On a vomit comet? Naw…
the reviewers spanked
likely not much of a punishment for these perverts
A few seconds of microgravity? Something sounds off, that would probably be enough to be seen in parachutists and fighter pilots. I think I’m going to wait for the peer review on this one…
Also can we stop trying to figure out how humans are going to survive off earth… Until we at least make earth livable again? Like “Genius of the Century” Elon Musk is pouring billions into trying to get man to Mars while actively helping to making earth unlivable.
Like no one should be allowed to leave this rock until it either becomes Paradise or worse than fucking Mars!
No?
If you’re going to call for the stopping of advancement of science while we figure out how to not be horrible we might as well just cash it out now.
Not my point. Advancement should never be stopped but us as a civilization needs push that science towards solving the most immediate and important problems.
Just a observation. Wish it was reality. But with enough social collaboration we can make one man’s wet dream of being the last of humanity, while spreading his “Superior” seed across the cosmos; socially, financially, and legally unacceptable.
Actually, space civ or anywhere else for that matter will serve as an excellent research lab experiment to solve Earth’s problems.
I’m not in favor of the tech bro++ oligarchy at all, and I believe this is going to get a good bit worse before it gets better for a specific reason of what will happen after the first M-type asteroid in NEO is successfully mined.
One must look at the situation on Earth from an uninvolved 3rd party perspective. Everything humans do is just a form of complex social hierarchy like any other animals. The primary form if display is the barbaric primitivism of collecting the fundamental means of survival; wealth. There is little incentive to display in other more advanced forms like reputation (academia/film industry), or merit (Olympics/military), within the broader population. One can behave terribly and ameliorate a massive share of the real cost using the environmental container to distribute the tax. In space, that is simply not possible. Sustainability is only possible within the elemental cycles. Existence becomes the driving factor. The economy of social hierarchy instead shifts to more advanced forms such as merit and reputation. The most fundamental resource and struggle becomes the heat budget in most instances. This fundamental shift is very important to future history as it creates the technology and engineering mindset that the environmental container is not a valid unlimited resource. Once the technology exists at smaller scales in space, it can be implemented at greater scale on Earth. The financial burden to iterate this tech and refine it to the point where it can be practical on Earth with little cost increase is simply not viable at all, not even for government programs. The big difference is M-type asteroids. Few talk about this, but elemental resource scarcity on any round planet is due to gravitational differentiation. The moment humans access a large M-type astroid (the core of a differentiated planetesimal that has broken up), all wealth accessed in the Holocene is basically irrelevant. The moment that happens, within a generation there will be space colonies. Everything else happening in space is basically taking this into context. Japan in leading the way on prospecting and mining exploration at the moment. They are the most relevant group to watch at the moment.
Scientific advancement in space experimentation leads to breakthroughs in other areas - all scientific progress is interconnected.
“Pushing science towards solving the most immediate and important problems” is sort of a nonsense statement, as there could be new efficiencies/strategies that are discovered in fields that are completely unrelated to what would normally be associated with “the most immediate and important problems.”
We have many many scientists working on “important problems”.
We do not have a deficit in research or curiosity, we have an issue with people willfully implementing policy that is detrimental. (Power, Profit, willful ignorance, intending to hurt others, etc)
i dont think anyone is going to survive if they try to leave permanently, not with this level of technology. Or if they do they will just suffer
Methinks they’ve given up on earth.
Who’d have thought a headline could contain all those words
I’m dyslexic and for a moment I was like. Why would you take people who work on boats on the vomit comet? Is it to see if their sealegs transfer to space?
ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ disorders can be fun sometimes…
Ps. Someone should do that study I mentioned.
Sperm concussion?
Why do you think baseball teams sell those mini batting helmets?
I was dropped on my head before i was even born.
I was dropped on my head before i was even
bornconceived.Ftfy ;-)
comparing an existing sample exposed to small doses of micro-gravity seems incredibly… useless… compared to sperm generated in space. how can they even begin to use it to make generalizations on ‘long term human space colonization’?
incredibly… useless… compared to sperm generated in space
That’s what I don’t get. Transporting fresh sperm is not an issue that anyone cares about in space colonization. Sperm will get there in two ways: frozen or made on the spot.
Especially considering the samples were exposed to supergravity as the plane came out of its dive. I feel like that would mostly invalidate whatever they were hoping to find.
Also, why do they dismiss asking ISS staff to participate in studies? Bodily autonomy doesn’t mean you can’t ask someone to conduct … uh… research with you. It just means you have to respect it they say no. Astronauts seem like the types who wouldn’t mind putting in a little extra effort for… science.
Also, why do they dismiss asking ISS staff to participate in studies? Bodily autonomy doesn’t mean you can’t ask someone to conduct … uh… research with you. It just means you have to respect it they say no. Astronauts seem like the types who wouldn’t mind putting in a little extra effort for… science.
Too many other introduced variables? Microgravity has a lot of other systemic effects on the astronauts that might affect sperm motility, even before effects to the sperm themselves. Or just individual variation/genetics on the part of the astronauts themselves.
They wouldn’t be able to get a sperm sample that wasn’t affected by microgravity from the astronauts to begin with.
I find it very hard to believe this hasn’t been tested on the ISS.
Called it
Everything experiences zero g on the ISS. How would you test this there?
You can collect sperm samples in space, too.
Exposure to short duration gravity load changes
Thats what the reduction in “motility and vitality” comes from. There is no way to create those conditions on the ISS so there is no point in considering the ISS for testing this.
The astronauts in the space station didn’t teleport there.
It’s about the changes in microgravity, extreme G and light. Pure guess, but it’s perhaps testing for travel as much as inhabitant.
Im sure they’re testing it in as many situations as possible. This just seems less productive, like testing sperm viability on a rollercoaster.
Oh no, maybe this will stop us finding another planet to ruin.
gravity load
Literally (fiction) speaking, I’ve randomly gambled on ~10 generations max before the population crashes if a generation ship arrives and fails to complete an O’Neill cylinder on the other side.
Sound legit? 4am, going to bed, so no read.
Don’t worry I didn’t even see it until now
Jokes on you, that’s my kink
Why is creating more humans a good thing in a world with all this suffering?
They are literally only talking about creating humans NOT on this world…
Not this planet, this universe
The universe has plenty of room for more humans. There’s a shit ton of matter out there, if you can get to it.
No, I meant to say by there being suffering in the world, I meant in the universe, rather than specifically referring to this planet and there would be no human suffering in off Earth colonies.
… Why not just say that then? It would save much confusion.
It’d be hard to say whether there would be no suffering in off-world colonies, but I should doubt it. Traditionally, colonisation has been a dangerous thing, and human nature is as human nature does. The best you can do is reduce it so that what suffering does occur is either minor, or ineffectual.
Today I seem really terrible at saying what I mean! 🤣
Whether on or off planet, humans anywhere will experience suffering, likely to an extent that far outweighs the pleasure they experience. Therefore it’s unethical to create more humans if your goal is reduction of suffering.
All life lives. Not just humans.
Most of us aren’t suffering and spending time with my kids is amazing and I enioy it.
Lol the downvotes are killing me.
“Fuck you for enjoying your life and family!”
I get you. But that’s life. Life wants to live and create more life. That’s what it’s about. The parts of life that ask why will be set aside and not used for the continuation of life.
