National Geographic: New bat discovery could help humans hibernate during space travel

 

New bat discovery could help humans hibernate during space travel

The 21-month trip to Mars poses a litany of problems, particularly keeping people healthy. Could hibernation be an answer?
BySarah Philip    December 16, 2024

For its next giant leap forward, NASA plans to send astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. The 21-month trip presents unique challenges, particularly keeping people healthy during such a long space voyage. But what once seemed like an impossible solution is now gathering momentum: Hibernation.

In winter, many mammals enter a state of torpor, dropping their body temperature and slowing down their metabolism and brain activity to save energy. However, people can’t hibernate for a few reasons: Our bodies can’t store enough fat without harming ourselves, function at such low energy and brain activity levels, or survive a massive drop in body temperature. (Read about surprising hibernators in nature.)

Gerald Kerth, a zoologist at the University of Greifswald in Germany, studies hibernation in bats, which are smaller and easier to research than, say, brown bears.

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