The biosphere and Mars

[fazer]

Went to the Biosphere in Arizona yesterday. It was built to study how to survive on Mars in an environment that would be self sustaining. It would be pressurized, grow its own food and run experiments. Its now run by the university of Arizona. It failed on many levels but a lot was learned and new studies are being conducted. Here are some pictures of the place.

 

[JohnRoberts]

There was an amusing (?) Pauly Shore movie "Biosphere" loosely based on that facility.

JR

 

[living sounds]

Fascinating! I remember reading about it in the early 90s.

 

[shabtek]

There was an amusing (?) Pauly Shore movie "Biosphere" loosely based on that facility.

JR

Breadth of JRs knowledge knows no bounds!

 

[JohnRoberts]

Breadth of JRs knowledge knows no bounds!

The biosphere experiment was a subject of interest for a CRSOC group I participated in decades ago. CR was "caloric restriction" to extend life (slow rate of aging). It pretty much works to some degree (proved with mice, dogs, and monkeys), but near starvation is arguably not living. There were some crazy ass people in that group who literally starved themselves almost to death. Some brilliant people too, but they were in the minority.

The Biosphere investigated minimal caloric needs for sustainable self-sufficiency, so of interest to the CR group.

JR

PS: Pay attention long enough you can pick up all kinds of factoids.

 

[Tubetec]

Id heard of calorific restriction experiments done on monkeys before ,
it was a long term study ,
The unrestricted group of chimps fared very poorly healthwise compared to the restricted group
I cant remember the exact numbers but the restricted chimps typically had the health of much younger animals , while the overfed ones were old way before their time .

You are what you eat . smaller quantities of better quality food and exercise has kept my waistline as it was in my teens . I always try to avoid eating till stuffed
The only give away to my real age is the silver highlights appearing in ever increasing numbers .

 

[JohnRoberts]

Id heard of calorific restriction experiments done on monkeys before ,
it was a long term study ,
The unrestricted group of chimps fared very poorly healthwise compared to the restricted group
I cant remember the exact numbers but the restricted chimps typically had the health of much younger animals , while the overfed ones were old way before their time .

You are what you eat . smaller quantities of better quality food and exercise has kept my waistline as it was in my teens . I always try to avoid eating till stuffed
The only give away to my real age is the silver highlights appearing in ever increasing numbers .

Calorie restriction (CR), a nutritional intervention of reduced energy intake but with adequate nutrition, has been shown to extend healthspan and lifespan in rodent and primate models. ... who follow a regimen of self-imposed severe CR with optimal nutrition (CRON) in the belief that this dietary lifestyle

Experiments were performed on everything from large primates to tiny insects. Of course to see a significant difference in slower rate of aging, the studies need to follow the larger mammals for years/decades. Mice were popular test subjects due to their short natural lifespans.

There were some compelling CR studies done with dogs because older dogs that remain vital are nicer to look at, but even the dog studies took years to complete.

I embraced the "ON" optimal nutrition part of CRON but lacked the will power to severely restrict my energy intake. That said I am relatively skinny for living in Mississippi.

Excessive energy intake can cause multiple negative health consequences. Besides the obvious metabolic syndrome (type II diabetes), higher cancer rates are correlated with surplus energy intake.

JR