Re: spacesickness (was Re: NASA HONORS LEGENDARY ASTRONAUT VANCE BRAND)



Craig Fink wrote:

Really one form of motion sickness isn't a very good predictor of another,
on earth or space.

In my opinion, its a neurological thing. Various sensors continuously feed
your brain with data. The brain filters and processes it to give you a
perception of what's going on around, reality. Certain inputs, or lack there of,
give the brain conflicting data. It's how your brain deals with this
conflicting data that's the difference. Does it get confused and throw up?
Or, does it already have the pathways to handle it properly.

Getting confused and throwing up, continues until the brain learns to
filter and process the new reality. I think the transition from one to the
other is learned also, old pathways, throw up, new pathways, your fine.
Your brain has to learn to not use the old pathways in the network during
the transition.


The reason NASA was shooting frogs into orbit was to study their otoliths- small bits of calcium carbonate that move back and forth over a sack of jelly that contains sensitive hairs inside you ear to let you tell which way is up in the prevailing gravity/acceleration field:
http://distance.stcc.edu/AandP/AP/AP2pages/Units14to17/unit16/vestibul.htm
Now... this is fairly tricky surgery, but... if we were to take out those calcium carbonate crystals, and replace them with something of the same weight, but magnetic...and the weightless astronaut had a small magnet located under each ear... then bye-bye space sickness except for the effects on the stomach.
Before landing the magnets are removed and the new magnetic otoliths perform the same function as the old ones did until needed again.
Now, I don't know what happens when the astronaut puts on magnetic stereo headphones, but I suspect he feels like his head is imploding as both sides of his body now think that straight outward is straight down.
Either that, or he orgasms- I'm not sure yet. ;-)

Pat
.

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