Extinction is Forever

This is a guest post by John Banks, a first year law student at the University of Manchester, with edits from Kali.  John was so excited by the concept of solar sails that he wouldn't shut up until we let him write this post. We call this the power of science. Science! Lawyers and Engineers In February, I, an aspiring law student, attended an event hosted by ReThinkX at CityLabs in Manchester. This was focused on the advances required in medicine to address problems associated with extended periods of space travel on the human body. I already know what you are thinking; ‘How did a plucky law student like myself end up at an event like this?’ It’s a compelling tale; with an infinitely witty main character, a dialogue tormented by puns, and a nostalgic soundtrack. A story for another time. My curiosity was captured by Colin McInnes, MBE, Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Glasgow . From his speech stems my inspiration for this post, for Professor ...

Kali's Review I first heard of The Martian  on, of all places, Martin Lewis' blog .  Martin Lewis the UK's Money Saving Expert , and one of the reasons he recommended the book was that, at the time, it was 77p, and also a "gripping page-turner" that he couldn't put down. I didn't buy it at the time.  I was a moron.  Blame my large and unwieldy unread pile, which, in 2013, was around 250 books high. I finally got my hands on The Martian sometime early in 2016.  I got it as an audiobook and listened to it while I was walking around trying to get enough steps with my Vivofit and playing Six to Start's The Walk (an iPhone game which I also recommend, along with their  Zombies, Run! ).  I got it in February, and then listened to it again in May, while completing a twelve-mile walk around Dudley . That last bit isn't quite true; I fully intended to spend the twelve miles listening to it, but I actually got adopted by an amazing little Ru...

Notes on a talk delivered by Dr Rochelle Velho, Academic Clinical Fellow , with the  UK Space Environments Association , at Final Frontiers in Healthcare, organised by  ReThinkX  at Citylabs, Manchester, 16th February 2017.   Welcome back! This week, we're going to talk about Dr Rochelle Velho and her Mars Analogue missions. via GIPHY Tele-Medicine  Tele-medicine is the practice of viewing vital signs, and, if necessary, giving advice and information based on those signs, from a distance.  It's what you need to do in space; often, astronauts are working independently, very far away from help, in dangerous conditions. This also has applications on earth, both in working with patients in dangerous situations, and simply in the fact that studying bodies in space can allow us to better understand patients on earth. An important question for space travel is...should a doctor go along?  Astronauts are some of the strongest, s...

Notes on a talk delivered by Dr Daniel Grant, Aerospace Development Director for CASE medicine at Final Frontiers in Healthcare, organised by ReThinkX at Citylabs, Manchester, 16th February 2017.   Dr Grant began by explaining that, in space travel, micro-gravity is the largest factor effecting human health, particularly if people plan on coming back to earth.  Note that there is gravity in space – it's just coming, in varying amounts, from every single large mass, none of which are close enough to stick you to the floor the way earth does.  When in orbit, you're actually in free-fall, which isn't really much better.  Human bodies experience a fluid shift, with blood pooling in the head. The blood pressure set point also changes, causing problems when they come back home.  Even after as little as two weeks in space, astronauts struggle to stand up for ten minutes at a time. Dizziness Your balance is affected, and to understand this, we'll first ne...

It's medicine...but not as we know it, Jim. On Thursday 16 th February, Alice and Kali attended an event discussing healthcare...in space!  The event was run by ReThinkX and held at Citylabs in Manchester, just across from Whitworth Park.  We heard about the event from the School of Biological Sciences newsletter, which, as students at the School of Biological Sciences, is automatically sent to our student email addresses. The event began with a rather lovely selection of teapig teas (I, Kali, am a big tea fan...) and coffee, before hearing from the four speakers. Click the links to read our summary of their talks. Dr Daniel Grant, Aerospace Development Director for CASE medicine — Challenges of Healthcare Delivery in Zero Gravity Dr Rochelle Velho and Sqn Cmmr Bonnie Posselt, UK Space Environments Association , Mars Analog Mission — The Mars Analogue Mission Professor Colin McInnes, James Watt Chair, Professor of Engineering Science - Solar Sails . ...