It's almost time to go to Mars!
快到去火星的时间了!
And while many of us are very ready to get on with humanity's journey to the red planet, our brains might not be quite as prepared to make that long trip through space.
虽然我们中的许多人已经为人类前往这颗红色星球的旅程做好准备,但我们的大脑可能还没准备好进行那次穿越太空的长途旅行。
Interplanetary travel comes with a lot of challenges for our brains, including microgravity, radiation, and even differences in light.
星际旅行给我们的大脑带来很多挑战,包括微重力、辐射,甚至光的差异。
And we're going to have to learn how to deal with them if we want our astronauts to get to Mars healthy and happy.
如果我们想让宇航员健康快乐地到达火星,我们就必须学会如何应对它们。
Most days, you don't think about the fact that our bodies are well adapted for gravity here on Earth. Because of how you cannot escape the gravity here on Earth.
大多数时候,你不会想到我们的身体很好地适应了地球上的重力,因为你无法逃离地球上的引力。
But here at home, your body pumps fluids up against gravity to stop everything from kind of pooling in your feet or legs.
但在家里,你的身体在重力的作用下泵出液体,阻止一切事物在脚部或腿部聚集。
Once you take gravity out of the equation though, your body has to adjust.
一旦把重力从等式中去掉,你的身体就必须进行调整。
When astronauts first reach space, their bodies are suddenly pushing all this fluid up, but there's nothing pulling it back down.
当宇航员第一次到达太空时,他们的身体突然将这些液体向上推,但没有任何东西能把它们拉回来。
You can see the effects of this in astronauts arriving at the ISS — they seem a little puffier in the face.
在到达国际空间站的宇航员身上能看到这种效果,他们的脸看起来有点浮肿。
The good news is this problem only lasts a few days before the body figures out how to handle fluids in the absence of gravity.
好消息是,这个问题只持续几天,然后身体才知道如何在没有重力的情况下应对液体。
Except for cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, which is a clear fluid that delivers nutrients to the brain and removes waste.
但脑脊液除外,脑脊液是一种向大脑输送营养物质并清除废物的透明液体。
But, in space, instead of distributing itself normally, it seems to pool underneath the cerebellum.
但在太空中,它似乎并不能正常分布,而是聚集在小脑下面。
Research published in JAMA Neurology looked at the brain scans of fifteen astronauts before and after spaceflight.
发表在《美国医学会神经病学期刊》上的研究,调查了15名宇航员在太空飞行前后的脑部扫描。
Seven of those astronauts had spent 30 days or more in a space shuttle, and 8 had been on the ISS for over 6 months.
其中7名宇航员在航天飞机上呆了30天或更长时间,8名宇航员在国际空间站呆了6个多月。
They found that this pooling seems to increase pressure within the brain, which squeezes and misshapes both the brain and the eyeballs.
他们发现,这种聚集似乎增加了大脑内部的压力,从而使大脑和眼球受到挤压并变形。
Scientists are calling this condition Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome, or SANS for short.
科学家称这种情况为与太空飞行相关的神经眼综合征,简称SANS。
We're still in the early days of understanding exactly how these changes are going to affect astronauts on interplanetary journeys.
对于这些变化如何影响宇航员的星际旅行的理解,我们仍处于早期阶段。
But researchers have noted that that extra pressure on the optic nerve and eyes can cause trouble with near-vision.
但研究人员注意到,视觉神经和眼睛承受的额外压力可能会导致近视的问题。
SANS also seems to affect the connections between different brain areas, and that's been associated with difficulties in maintaining balance after landing.
SANS似乎也会影响不同脑区之间的联系,这与着陆后难以保持平衡有关。
Oddly, those connective changes were actually more severe in the brains of astronauts who'd been in microgravity for a shorter amount of time.
奇怪的是,那些在微重力环境中呆了很短时间的宇航员,他们大脑中的连接变化实际上更为严重。
It seems like, with longer exposure to microgravity, things start to go back to normal.
似乎随着长时间暴露在微重力下,情况开始恢复正常。
That offers a bit of hope that the brain may be able to self-correct given enough time.
这提供了一丝希望,只要时间充足,大脑或许能进行自我修正。
So maybe SANS is just a temporary symptom of our brains getting used to new gravity conditions.
所以,SANS可能只是我们大脑适应新重力条件的暂时症状。
But we'll need to get to the bottom of that before we put humans in interstellar space — or Martian gravity — for the long term.
但在我们将人类长期置于星际空间或火星引力之前,我们需要弄清这一点。
Another thing we typically take for granted here on Earth is that most radiation from deep space glances off Earth's magnetic field and leaves us alone.
我们在地球上通常认为理所当然的另一件事是,来自太空深处的大部分辐射会扫过地球磁场,然后远离我们。
Even out on the ISS, astronauts are mostly protected by this shield.
即使在国际空间站上,宇航员也大多受到这种防护罩的保护。
But once we start breaking out of that protective zone to journey to Mars, radiation is no joke.
但一旦我们开始冲出保护区去火星旅行,辐射就不是闹着玩儿的了。
Deep-space radiation is made of atoms that lose their electrons as they fly through space at nearly the speed of light.
太空深处的辐射是由原子组成的,当它们以接近光速飞过太空时,会失去电子。
And it does not give a good gosh darn — it'll tear through your body like tiny bullets.
它可不好惹,它会像子弹一样撕裂你的身体。
That's bad news for the tissue in your brain. That's bad news for the tissue in your brain.
这对你的大脑组织是个坏消息。
Those microscopic tears lead to dense clumps of proteins called plaques, which are often seen in dementia, and they keep neurons from working together as effectively.
这些微小的撕裂会导致一种叫做斑块的致密蛋白质团,这种蛋白质团经常出现在痴呆症患者身上,它们使神经元无法有效地协同工作。
It's also bad news for your body, generally speaking. It can cut through DNA if that DNA were repairs in a wrong way, that can lead to cancer.
总的来说,这对你的身体也是个坏消息。如果DNA以错误的方式修复,它会切断DNA,从而导致癌症。
Even so, as wild as it sounds, a little bit of radiation is an acceptable risk.
尽管听起来很疯狂,不过一点点辐射还是可以接受的风险。
Right now, NASA sets acceptable limits for radiation based on age,
现在,美国宇航局根据年龄设定了可接受的辐射限值。
since the older you are, the smaller the chance that you'll live long enough to get cancer from previous radiation exposure.
因为年龄越大,因先前的辐射暴露而患上癌症的几率就越小。
But, since we're thinking about colonizing Mars, scientists are now looking into how deep-space radiation could affect us in the shorter term,
但是,由于我们考虑把火星开拓为殖民地,科学家们现在正在研究太空深处的辐射在短期内会对我们产生多大的影响,
over the months or years it would take to get to and from Mars.
即在往返火星的数月或数年时间内。
And so far, it looks pretty gnarly.
到目前为止,看起来情况不太好。
Recent research on mice suggests that chronic, low-dose-rate neutron radiation,
最近对老鼠的研究表明,慢性、低剂量率的中子辐射,
like the kind people would encounter on a journey to Mars, actually slows down signals between neurons.
就像人们在火星旅行中遭遇的一样,实际上会减缓神经元之间的信号。
The mice in this study developed problems with learning and memory, and showed signs of distress.
这项研究中的老鼠在学习和记忆方面出现了问题,并表现出痛苦的迹象。
If the same is true for humans, this suggests that radiation would be super dangerous for astronauts, who'd be in pretty bad neurological shape by the time they got to Mars.
如果对人类也是如此,这就意味着辐射对宇航员来说将超级危险。当他们到达火星时,其神经状态将非常糟糕。
Shielding against deep-space radiation is tricky, though.
不过,屏蔽太空深处辐射是件很棘手的事。
Research is going to have to focus on developing super-effective shielding if we want our astronauts to be functional once they reach Mars.
如果我们希望宇航员到达火星后能正常工作,就必须集中研究开发超级有效的屏蔽技术。
Right now, NASA is exploring shields with high amounts of hydrogen or boron, which are particularly effective at blocking radioactive particles.
目前,美国航天局正在探索含有大量氢或硼的防护罩,这些物质对于阻挡放射性粒子特别有效。
And if engineers can design a system that generates enough power, we might one day be able to create magnetic force-fields around spaceships that deflect radiation, just like the Earth's magnetic field.
如果工程师们能设计出可以产生足够能量的系统,也许有一天我们能在宇宙飞船周围产生磁场,像地球磁场一样偏转辐射。
Right now though, we're still looking for the right solution.
但现在,我们仍在寻找正确的解决方案。
One of the most relatable problems astronauts deal with is trouble sleeping.
宇航员面临的与之最相关的一件事是睡眠问题。
And while they certainly do enough work to warrant a good long rest, astronauts actually don't get as much sleep as they should.
虽然他们确实做了足够的工作来保证长时间休息,但宇航员实际上并没有得到应有的睡眠。
They sleep six hours on average, even with eight-point-five hours a day set aside for it.
他们平均睡6个小时,即使每天留出8.5小时。
There are a few reasons for this, but the biggest issue, especially when it comes time to go interplanetary, will be light exposure.
这包含几个原因,但最大的问题是接触到光暴露,特别是进行星际旅行时。
The astronauts that go to Mars won't have sunrises and sunsets on their journey — and that's a problem when it comes to their circadian rhythm,
去火星的宇航员在他们的旅程中看不到日出和日落,这是他们的昼夜节律问题,
the internal processes that tell us when to wake up and go to sleep.
内部节律会告诉我们什么时候醒来和入睡。
On Earth, our bodies respond to different frequencies of light over the course of around 24 hours.
在地球上,我们的身体在大约24小时内对不同频率的光做出反应。
In particular, blue light, which is strong in the morning, suppresses the sleep hormone melatonin — and that makes us more alert.
尤其是早晨强烈的蓝光会抑制睡眠激素褪黑激素,这会让我们更加警觉。
Without that 24 hour cycle of sunrises and sunsets, astronauts' sleep cycles go haywire, and their quality of sleep takes a hit.
如果没有24小时的日出和日落周期,宇航员的睡眠周期就会混乱,睡眠质量也会受到影响。
This can cause a range of symptoms, including stress, trouble working, and even hallucinations.
这会导致一系列症状,包括压力、工作困难,甚至产生幻觉。
To combat this, astronauts on the ISS just installed new LED lights that simulate different times of day.
为了解决这个问题,国际空间站的宇航员刚刚安装了新型LED灯,模拟一天中不同的时间。
And when we blast out of Earth's orbit, a system like this is going to be vital to keeping our astronauts healthy and rested.
当我们冲出地球轨道时,像这样的系统对保持宇航员的健康和休息至关重要。
Minimizing risks to astronauts' well-being while traveling through space is a huge part of our prep for a Mars mission.
尽量减少宇航员在太空旅行时遭遇健康风险,是我们准备火星任务的一个重要部分。
And though these things are problems, identifying them now means we're in a great position to tackle them early and get ourselves truly ready to become an interplanetary species.
尽管这些都是问题,但现在发现它们意味着我们有很好的条件尽早解决,真正做好成为星际物种的准备。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow Psych! Before you go, I want to tell you about October's SciShow pin of the month.
感谢收看本期《心理科学秀》!节目结束前,我想向你们揭晓10月份最受欢迎的科学节目。
Every month, we here at SciShow release a new, space-themed pin, and it's your last chance to order your October pin!
每个月,我们都会在《科学秀》中发布一个与空间主题有关的新识别号,这是您最后一次订购十月新识别号的机会!
This one is of Sputnik, humanity's first artificial satellite, and you can only get it this month.
这颗是普特尼克,是人类第一颗人造卫星,你只能在这个月得到它。
Check it out at dftba.com or in the description below.
在dftba.com或下面的描述中查看信息。