weightlessness
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ISS Astronauts Are Testing a New Surface Coating to Fight Space Germs
For astronauts living aboard the International Space Station (ISS), space germs are bad news. The confined environment, plus a weakened immunity system, and more aggressive bacteria, means that catching a cold in space is way worse than on Earth. In order to help stop the spread of viruses in space, Boeing developed an antimicrobial surface…
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An Experimental Drug May Help Prevent Bone Loss in Space
A team of scientists say they may have found a new way to mitigate one of the most dangerous complications of space travel: the steady and inevitable loss of bone mass. In new research published this week, the team’s experimental treatment was able to promote bone growth in mice living aboard the International Space Station…
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Space Tourists Might Need Zero-Gravity Sex Ed Before Launching Into Orbit
I don’t know how things go in America, but where I went to school sex ed classes were a deeply uncomfortable affair that included ancient educational films, warnings about teenage pregnancy, and a couple of free sperm-shaped keychains. It’s definitely not an experience I’m interested in repeating anytime soon. But now, experts in the UK…
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‘You Are Not Leaving Without Us’: Why Disabled Astronauts Are Key to Humanity’s Future in Space
“I went silent,” Dwayne Fernandes told me. “I shut the hell up.” Fernandes, a double-amputee since the age of 11, was recounting his experience in weightlessness, having recently participated in a parabolic flight alongside a disabled research crew. The zero-g flight threw him into a deeply contemplative state, and as the crew celebrated its successful…