Science biology includes a lot of different sections, large and small subsidiary sciences. And each of them is important not only in human life, but also for the entire planet as a whole.
For the second century in a row, people are trying to study not only the earthly diversity of life in all its manifestations, but also to find out if there is life outside the planet, in outer space. A special science deals with these issues - space biology. It will be discussed in our review.
Section of Biological Science - Space Biology
This science is relatively young, but very rapidly developing. The main aspects of the study are:
- Outer space factors and their influence on the organisms of living beings, the vital activity of all living systems in space or in aircraft.
- The development of life on our planet with the participation of space, the evolution of living systems and the likelihood of biomass outside of our planet.
- Possibilities of constructing closed systems and creating real living conditions in them for comfortable development and growth of organisms in outer space.
Space medicine and biology are closely related sciences that jointly study the physiological state of living things in space, their prevalence in interplanetary space and evolution.
Thanks to the research of these sciences, it became possible to select the optimal conditions for finding people in space, without causing any harm to health. Huge material has been collected on the existence of life in space, the ability of plants and animals (unicellular, multicellular) to live and develop in zero gravity.
History of the development of science
The roots of space biology date back to ancient times when philosophers and thinkers - naturalists Aristotle, Heraclitus, Plato and others - watched the starry sky, trying to identify the relationship of the Moon and the Sun with the Earth, to understand the reasons for their impact on agricultural land and animals.
Later, in the Middle Ages, attempts began to determine the shape of the Earth and explain its rotation. For a long time, a theory created by Ptolemy was heard. She said that the Earth is the center of the Universe, and all other planets and celestial bodies move around it (geocentric system).
However, there was another scientist, the Pole Nikolai Copernicus, who proved the fallacy of these statements and proposed his own heliocentric system for building the world: in the center is the Sun, and all the planets are moving around. In this case, the Sun is also a star. His views were supported by the followers of Giordano Bruno, Newton, Kepler, Galileo.
However, it was cosmic biology as a science that appeared much later. Only in the 20th century did the Russian scientist Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky develop a system that allows people to penetrate into the cosmic depths and slowly study them. He is rightly considered the father of this science. Also, a major role in the development of cosmobiology was played by discoveries in physics and astrophysics, quantum chemistry and mechanics of Einstein, Bohr, Planck, Landau, Fermi, Kapitsa, Bogolyubov and others.
New scientific research that allowed people to make long-planned space missions, made it possible to highlight specific medical and biological justifications for the safety and influence of extra-planetary conditions that Tsiolkovsky formulated. What was their essence?
- Scientists were given a theoretical justification for the effect of weightlessness on mammalian organisms.
- He modeled several options for creating space conditions in the laboratory.
- He proposed options for astronauts to obtain food and water using plants and the circulation of substances.
Thus, it was Tsiolkovsky who laid down all the basic postulates of astronautics, which have not lost their relevance today.
Weightlessness
Modern biological research in the field of studying the influence of dynamic factors on the human body in outer space allows the astronauts to maximally relieve the negative influence of these very factors.
There are three main dynamic characteristics:
- vibration;
- acceleration;
- weightlessness.
The most unusual and important effect on the human body is precisely zero gravity. This is a state in which the force of gravity disappears and it is not replaced by other inertial influences. In this case, a person completely loses the ability to control the position of the body in space. Such a state begins already in the lower layers of space and is preserved in its entire space.
Biomedical studies have shown that in the state of weightlessness in the human body, the following changes occur:
- Palpitations.
- Muscles relax (tone goes away).
- Reduced performance.
- Spatial hallucinations are possible.
A person in zero gravity is able to stay up to 86 days without harm to health. This has been proven empirically and confirmed from a medical point of view. However, one of the tasks of space biology and medicine today is to develop a set of measures to prevent the effect of weightlessness on the human body in general, eliminate fatigue, increase and consolidate normal performance.
There are a number of conditions that astronauts observe to overcome weightlessness and maintain control over the body:
- the design of the aircraft strictly complies with the necessary safety standards for passengers;
- astronauts are always carefully fastened to their seats in order to avoid unforeseen flights up;
- all items on the ship have a strictly defined place and are properly secured in order to avoid traumatic situations;
- liquids are stored only in closed, hermetically sealed containers.
In order to achieve good results in overcoming weightlessness, astronauts undergo thorough training on Earth. But, unfortunately, while modern scientific research does not allow creating such conditions in the laboratory. On our planet, it is not possible to overcome gravity. It is also one of the challenges for the future for space and medical biology.
Overload in space (acceleration)
Another important factor affecting the human body in space is acceleration, or overload. The essence of these factors is reduced to the uneven redistribution of the load on the body during strong high-speed movements in space. There are two main types of acceleration:
As biomedical research shows, both of these accelerations are very important in influencing the physiological state of the astronaut’s body.
So, for example, under the action of short-term accelerations (they last less than 1 second), irreversible changes in the body at the molecular level can occur. Also, if the organs are not trained, are weak enough, there is a risk of rupture of their shells. Such effects can be carried out when the capsule with the astronaut is separated in space, when it is catapulted, or when the ship lands in orbits.
Therefore, it is very important that the astronauts undergo a thorough medical examination and certain physical preparation before flying into space.
Long-acting acceleration occurs during launch and landing of a rocket, as well as during flight in some spatial places in space. The effect of such accelerations on the body according to data provided by scientific medical research is as follows:
- palpitations and heart rate;
- breathing quickens;
- the occurrence of nausea and weakness, pallor of the skin;
- eyesight suffers, a red or black film appears in front of the eyes;
- perhaps a feeling of pain in the joints, limbs;
- muscle tone decreases;
- neurohumoral regulation changes;
- gas exchange in the lungs and in the body as a whole becomes different;
- sweating may occur.
Overload and weightlessness force medical scientists to come up with various methods. allowing to adapt, train cosmonauts so that they can withstand the effects of these factors without health consequences and without loss of performance.
One of the most effective ways to train astronauts to accelerate is a centrifuge. It is in it that one can observe all the changes that occur in the body under the action of overloads. It also allows you to train and adapt to the influence of this factor.
Space Flight and Medicine
Flying into space, of course, has a very large impact on the health of people, especially untrained or having chronic diseases. Therefore, an important aspect is medical research of all the intricacies of flight, all reactions of the body to the most diverse and incredible effects of extra-planetary forces.
Flying in zero gravity forces modern medicine and biology to come up with and formulate (at the same time, and implement, of course) a set of measures to provide astronauts with normal nutrition, rest, oxygen supply, maintenance, and so on.
In addition, medicine is designed to provide astronauts with decent assistance in case of unforeseen emergency situations, as well as protection from the effects of unknown forces of other planets and spaces. This is quite complicated, requires a lot of time and effort, a large theoretical base, using only the latest modern equipment and drugs.
In addition, medicine, along with physics and biology, has the task of protecting cosmonauts from the physical factors of space conditions, such as:
- temperature;
- radiation;
- pressure;
- meteorites.
Therefore, the study of all these factors and features is very important.
Research Methods in Biology
Space biology, like any other biological science, has a certain set of methods that allow you to conduct research, accumulate theoretical material and confirm it with practical conclusions. These methods do not remain unchanged over time; they are updated and modernized in accordance with the current time. However, the historically established methods of biology still remain relevant to this day. These include:
- Observation.
- Experiment.
- Historical analysis.
- Description.
- Comparison
These methods of biological research are basic, relevant at all times. But there are a number of others that have arisen with the development of science and technology, electronic physics and molecular biology. They are called modern and play the largest role in the study of all biological, chemical, medical and physiological processes.
Modern methods
- Methods of genetic engineering and bioinformatics. This includes agrobacterial and ballistic transformation, PCR (polymerase chain reactions). The role of biological research of such a plan is great, since it is they that make it possible to find solutions to the problem of power and oxygen saturation of rocket launchers and booths for the comfortable state of astronauts.
- Methods of protein chemistry and histochemistry . Allows you to manage proteins and enzymes in living systems.
- The use of fluorescence microscopy , superresolution microscopy.
- The use of molecular biology and biochemistry and their research methods.
- Biotelemetry is a method that is the result of a combination of the work of engineers and physicians on a biological basis. It allows you to control all physiologically important functions of the body at a distance using radio channels of communication between the human body and the computer-recorder. Space biology uses this method as the main method for tracking the effects of space conditions on the organisms of astronauts.
- Biological indication of interplanetary space . A very important method of space biology, which allows to evaluate the interplanetary states of the environment, to obtain information about the characteristics of different planets. The basis here is the use of animals with built-in sensors. It is experimental animals (mice, dogs, monkeys) that extract information from orbits, which is used by earth scientists for analysis and conclusions.
Modern methods of biological research make it possible to solve advanced problems not only of space biology, but also universal.
Problems of Space Biology
All these methods of biomedical research, unfortunately, have not yet been able to solve all the problems of space biology. There are a number of topical issues that remain relevant to this day. Consider the main problems faced by space medicine and biology.
- The selection of trained personnel for a space flight, the state of health of which could satisfy all the requirements of physicians (including allowing the astronauts to withstand rigorous training and training for flights).
- A decent level of training and supplying all necessary working space crews.
- Ensuring safety in all respects (including from unexplored or alien factors of influence from other planets) to working ships and aircraft structures.
- Psychophysiological rehabilitation of astronauts upon return to Earth.
- Development of ways to protect astronauts and spaceships from radiation.
- Ensuring normal living conditions in the cockpit during space flight.
- Development and application of modernized computer technologies in space medicine.
- The introduction of space telemedicine and biotechnology. Using the methods of these sciences.
- The solution of medical and biological problems for comfortable flights of astronauts to Mars and other planets.
- The synthesis of pharmacological agents that will solve the problem of oxygen supply in space.
Developed, improved and comprehensive in application methods of biomedical research will certainly solve all the tasks and existing problems. However, when it will be - the question is complex and rather unpredictable.
It should be noted that not only Russian scientists, but also the scientific council of all countries of the world are dealing with all these issues. And this is a big plus. After all, joint research and searches will yield a disproportionately large and quick positive result. Close global cooperation in solving space problems is the key to success in the development of extra-planetary space.
Modern achievements
There are many such achievements. After all, intensive work is carried out daily, thorough and painstaking, which allows you to find more and more new materials, draw conclusions and formulate hypotheses.
One of the most important discoveries of the 21st century in cosmology was the discovery of water on Mars. This immediately gave rise to the birth of dozens of hypotheses about the presence or absence of life on the planet, the possibility of the resettlement of earthlings to Mars, and so on.
Another discovery was that scientists determined the age limits within which a person can be in space as comfortably and without serious consequences as possible. This age starts from 45 years and ends approximately 55-60 years. Young people traveling to space suffer extremely psychologically and physiologically upon returning to Earth, they are hard to adapt and rebuild.
Water was also discovered on the moon (2009). Also on the Earth’s satellite were found mercury and a large amount of silver.
Biological research methods, as well as engineering and physical indicators, allow us to confidently conclude that the effects of ionic radiation and radiation in space are harmless (at least no more harmful than on Earth).
Scientific studies have proved that a long stay in space does not leave an imprint on the state of physical health of astronauts. However, the problems remain psychologically.
Studies have been carried out proving that higher plants react differently to being in outer space. The seeds of some plants during the study did not show any genetic changes. Others, on the contrary, showed obvious deformations at the molecular level.
The experiments conducted on the cells and tissues of living organisms (mammals) proved that space does not affect the normal state and functioning of these organs.
Various types of medical research (tomography, MRI, blood and urine tests, cardiogram, computed tomography, etc.) led to the conclusion that the physiological, biochemical, and morphological characteristics of human cells remain unchanged when they are in space for up to 86 days.
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Life in space
According to modern concepts, life in space can exist, since recent discoveries confirm the presence on some planets of suitable conditions for the emergence and development of life. However, the opinions of scientists in this matter are divided into two categories:
- there is no life anywhere except the Earth, there never was and never will be;
- life is in the vast expanses of outer space, but people have not yet discovered it.
Which of the hypotheses is true is for everyone to decide. Evidence and rebuttal for both one and the other is enough.