Animals have always had many abilities that humans envy.
For example, the ability to breathe in water, the ability to fly in the air, and the powerful ability to regenerate severed limbs.
These abilities belonged to the power of gods in distant ancient times.
In modern times, human beings have relied on their IQ to become the overlords of the earth. They are omnipotent in the sky and in the sea, and they no longer desire the abilities of fish and birds.
Although the ability to regenerate severed limbs is still not possible for humans.
But with powerful artificial limbs, geckos are no longer the envy and jealousy of humans.
And when mankind begins the space age and heads towards the stars and the sea.
They discovered that another special ability of animals has become very practical.
That is the ability to hibernate.
Hibernation is a fairly common ability in the animal kingdom, similar to the popularity of stoning nuts among primates.
Every winter on this planet, dozens of species slumber into a state of unconsciousness.
This state greatly suppresses their body's desire for food and air.
And when spring came and they quickly regained their vitality, the animals showed no signs of muscle atrophy, malnutrition, or disease caused by being motionless for so long.
Animals have proven that they can survive by switching seamlessly between high- and low-power modes when conditions become hostile.
Not only animals, but bacteria that like warm and humid weather also fall into hibernation in winter. They can even hibernate under the Arctic ice for millions of years, waiting hard for the moment when the glaciers melt and life revives.
For animals and bacteria, hibernation is a survival instinct in harsh environments.
The ancestors of Homo sapiens not only lived in warm temperate zones and did not have to deal with harsh natural conditions, but they also quickly developed a killer weapon like IQ.
As apex predators, humans can deal with any prey. There are no natural enemies at all, so there is no need to hide through hibernation.
Hibernating for several months at a time is very inefficient for humans, and is far less profitable than grazing cattle and sheep in winter.
Over time, if it is not used, it will fade away, and this ability will be eliminated through natural evolution.
It wasn't until humans needed to spend a long night in space that they suddenly remembered how useful the ability to hibernate is.
Scientists have been working hard to send humans into space and even colonize Mars.
Unfortunately, humans are a very difficult species.
As large endothermic animals, humans have extremely active brains and consume large amounts of food, water and oxygen in their daily survival.
All these consumptions make it difficult for people to design a spacecraft that is light enough to achieve a 225 million-kilometer round-trip voyage between Mars and Earth.
Based on the eating habits of astronauts on the International Space Station, a four-person crew will need at least 11 tons of food to complete a 1,100-day mission to Mars and back.
For 4 people and 3 years of survival, the weight of food alone is close to 10 times the weight of the Mars probe, and this is already the largest load that humans can land on Mars so far.
Add to that all the other necessities of life, as well as the engine and the tools needed to set up camp, and the total weight would reach a terrifying figure.
Calculated according to this standard, the weight of a Mars spacecraft loaded with fuel can easily exceed 330 tons when it leaves the earth's atmosphere.
This is much heavier than two adult blue whales combined.
How can such a huge spacecraft generate all the power needed for a round trip?
It is simply beyond human imagination and beyond the limits of human current power system.
Of course, there's a very intuitive solution to this problem, as anyone who's ever seen a science fiction movie can tell.
That is to slow down the metabolism of the crew so that they only need to consume the minimum amount of resources during transportation, which can greatly save time, effort and weight.
If astronauts can maintain low temperatures during most of their journey to Mars, the weight of resources used to sustain life can be reduced by more than 60%.
And the cryogenic state can help astronauts resist some serious health problems, such as radiation, as well as the psychological harm caused by extreme boredom and loneliness.
You know, in the dark space, people will lose real-time communication.
Many people may think that reading a lot of books is enough, but reading can quickly become boring during the boring journey day after day.
A common scene in science fiction movies is an astronaut lying in a sarcophagus-like hibernation cabin, spending a long journey in space.
Their hearts only beat three times per minute and their body temperatures hovered at 2.78 degrees Celsius, but they were still able to survive and possess the tenacious vitality of archaea. After opening the hibernation chamber, they miraculously returned to normal without any physical problems.
This leads to a crucial question.
How on earth can humans safely de-energize a person's body and bring them closer to death.
Then, resurrect him as needed?
In the early days of research, scientists saw some promise in cryotherapy.
Hypothermia is a medical technique that cools people who have experienced cardiac arrest, typically by injecting coolant intravenously, until their internal temperature reaches as low as 31.7 degrees Celsius.
This will significantly reduce their metabolism, allowing their cells to operate with approximately 30% less oxygen and energy.
Hypothermia can be life-saving for patients whose blood flow is reduced and the body is damaged and difficult to heal.
Patients usually only remain in this hypothermic state for a day or two, primarily because the cold triggers intense shivering that must be controlled with powerful sedatives and neuromuscular blockers.
But scientists have found several rare cases in which some patients remained hypothermic for up to two weeks.
So they began to discuss how to maintain this state for as long as possible.
Unfortunately, when delving deeper into hypothermia therapy, we encountered an unavoidable problem.
Medications used to control tremors can also stop people from breathing, comatose astronauts will have to be intubated to stay alive, and the needles needed to maintain intravenous fluids can increase the chance of infection.
The ideal alternative would be for astronauts to swallow a pill and then lie down for a long, cold sleep, during which they can breathe on their own.
It may seem like a fantasy, but this scenario is familiar to most people.
This is the ability of hibernation in the animal kingdom.
Scientists began to imagine if hibernating animals, our closest relatives, could learn this ability.
Maybe you can adjust your brain and body to enter hibernation, thus completely solving the problem of space navigation.
Unfortunately, research in this area has not been smooth and has not created much of a wave.
NASA in Eagle Country has been funding related projects, but has not heard of any useful progress so far.
Therefore, when Wei Kang saw that his R&D personnel had made a breakthrough, he immediately lost his composure.
"Has the secret of animal hibernation been discovered?"
"Or is there new hope for the realization of human hibernation?"
There were waves of panic in his heart, and he couldn't wait to read on.
"The research team obtained a very low squirrel that could hibernate, so they used microdialysis technology to observe and study it, and made some new discoveries about hibernating animals."
"Microdialysis allows tiny tubes to be inserted under an animal's skull to collect samples of neurochemicals for in-depth study."
"This process usually leaves scars where the tubes and brain come into contact, but when the polar squirrels came out of hibernation and came out of hibernation, the researchers were surprised to find that the scars were gone and they couldn't even find where the probe was inserted. "
"It follows that hibernation protects the brain from damage and is a spontaneous protective state in animals."
"If this state could be replicated in humans, it might be possible to slow down aging and allow for self-healing, which would be of great value."
"The research team conducted an in-depth analysis of the hibernation phenomenon of polar squirrels and found that activating the A1 adenosine receptor in polar squirrels will induce hibernation."
"But this drug has a major flaw. It needs to be injected into the squirrel's brain to work. If injected intravenously, the drug will affect the heart, causing the heartbeat to slow down until it stops completely, making it impossible to wake up from hibernation."
"The research team combined the drug with a macromolecule A1 adenosine antagonist to form a mixed drug for intravenous injection, and tested it on rats that were unable to hibernate voluntarily."
"The experiment successfully put the rats into a state of cryogenic hibernation without affecting their hearts, and they eventually recovered from hibernation healthily."
"After injection of the drug mixture, the internal temperature of the rats dropped to between 30-32 degrees Celsius, the heart rate slowed down by 51%, and the oxygen consumption dropped significantly. They switched from using carbohydrates and fat to generate heat to using only fat, and entered a state of low energy. The hibernating state of consumption.”
"After the rat woke up, a series of inspections were conducted on it, and no damage was found. At the same time, some minor injuries to the body were also repaired during hibernation."
"We exposed rats to large doses of radiation while they were hibernating, and found that when the cells became less active, they developed significant resistance to radiation and began to repair the damage caused by radiation exposure."
"Rats irradiated while hibernating had a higher survival rate than rats irradiated while fully awake."
"In addition, scientists have discovered fossils of a long-extinct human species, proving that the species hibernated in caves about 430,000 years ago."
"It can be seen that the human genome may also have the same hibernation control gene."
"The project team is currently screening the genome of rats, hoping to find genes that induce hibernation and regulate body temperature, and conduct further experiments on large and medium-sized animals."
"This project aims to explore the plasticity of body temperature and profound evolutionary adaptations in hibernation in mammals, and explore the feasibility of this research in promoting hibernation during long-distance travel in humans."
After reading the project report, Wei Kang let out a long breath, feeling disappointed and somewhat relieved at the same time.
"It turns out that they just discovered the key drug molecules that can trigger hibernation in rats. They want to further find the genome that regulates hibernation in animals, and then apply this discovery to humans."
"Sure enough, it is still difficult to give humans the ability to hibernate. We have only taken the first step, and there are 99 steps to follow."
"Even so, this is very pioneering and innovative research, and I have no reason not to strongly support it."
"As long as there are any discoveries, it will be worth the money."
"If humans can really realize their dream of hibernation, interstellar voyages will no longer be far away."
"The manned landing on the moon is already on the verge of success, and it is likely to be achieved this year. Then the next goal will be to go to Mars."
"If humans can achieve hibernation before then, the journey to Mars will surely enter a new track of rapid development."
Thinking of this, Wei Kang couldn't help but feel excited.
Of course, he is also very clear that this is a road destined to be difficult, and the research of the project team has just begun.
Hibernation has only been realized in laboratory mice, but there is still a long way to go before it can be realized in humans.
You know, the human body is much more complicated than that of mice. It's not just about putting drugs into the body and letting the mice sleep on their own.
The entire process requires drugs, hibernation chambers, life support systems, monitoring systems, and wake-up mechanisms to work at the same time to form a complete hibernation system.
To develop a truly usable hibernating capsule that can maintain astronauts' low-energy survival for months or even years, wake them up at the appropriate time, and put them to work in a short time, requires strong scientific research capabilities and various high technologies. Only with comprehensive integration can there be any possibility of realization.
That is to say, Sanqing has strong capabilities in drug research and development and medical device research and development, so it can start such a long-term project that takes a long time and invests huge amounts of money.
“The road ahead is long and difficult, but it will come soon. If we keep on walking, we will have a promising future!”
Wei Kang silently recited this sentence in his heart, looked at the project leader, and found a surprising name.
"Zhang Li? Isn't she working on a brain-computer interface project with Chen Yiqing?"
"Yes, under the cultivation of Chen Yiqing and the training of brain-computer excuses, she finally grew up and had her own research and development project."
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel happy. He seemed to see a green cabbage growing out of the ground before his eyes, and it grew extremely strong.
"Being less than 30 years old, you have made such a discovery and found your own path. If you keep going, it is really a scary life and a promising future!"
"Old Chen is cultivating a successor for himself. He is really discerning and will benefit the company."
The more Wei Kang thought about it, the more beautiful it became, and he couldn't help but grin.
Sanqing has always cooperated closely with the space center.
As a medical expert who has been to space and stayed briefly on a space station, no one understands the significance of space hibernation better than him.
As long as this research continues, humans are likely to achieve true hibernation within the next 10 years.
This timeline perfectly fits the space center's plan to send humans to Mars within 10 to 15 years.
There is no doubt that the universality of hibernation among mammals, as well as related fossils, indicate that our ancestors were actually hibernating animals.
It's just that during the long evolutionary process of tens of thousands of years, humans no longer needed this ability, so they lost it.
But temporary loss does not mean permanent loss.
This gene still exists in everyone's ancestral genetic sequence, but it is no longer expressed.
With human technology, sooner or later this ancient gene can be awakened again and given a new mission.
