“Astronauts who see the Earth
from their little portal windows
feel a sense of psychological
connectedness with it.”
Dr Saniotis says a range of health and social issues
for older people – such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
disease and dementia, as well as cancer – are currently
major hurdles for the quality of older life. But if medical
science is able to tackle these issues, what can we
expect for the future of the human race?
“The nature of our whole society would have to
change,” Dr Saniotis says. “Our notions of ageing and
youth, concepts of family, our sexual patterns and
relationships, our concepts of work and retirement,
social security systems, the food industry, medicine, all of
this will change.”
Dr Saniotis poses a further issue: “What if you want to
live for centuries but no-one else around you wants to live
that long? The rest of your life will see continuous loss; it
would be too much for most people. So while physically
we might be able to modify and adapt to extend life,
it’s possible that for many people it would be
psychologically damaging.”
Dr Saniotis says space travel is also a double-edged
sword.
“It would take about six months for a manned spaceship
to reach Mars, and another six months to return. At the
current time, scientists have yet to devise a method to
protect astronauts from the amount of cosmic radiation
they would be exposed to during long-term space travel.
“Assuming that problem is somehow solved, my main
concern is helping to reduce the physical and neurological
deprivation that astronauts would experience on such a
journey,” he says.
READER SURVEY
WIN 1 of 5 $100 2016 Adelaide
Fringe vouchers
Click here!
“Over the last 30 years authorities have been monitoring
people on space stations, particularly on the Russian
space station Mir. And you can see so many problems
occurring: from changes in blood circulation due to
microgravity, muscle and skeletal loss, neurological
deficits, and behavioural issues due to stress levels and
lack of sleep.”
Dr Saniotis says although astronauts already conduct
exercises to maintain physical and mental health, it’s
not enough to replace the kind of stimulation they would
receive on Earth. And there’s another key factor in all of
this: people’s connection to nature.
“It’s known that astronauts who see the Earth from
their little portal windows feel a sense of psychological
connectedness with it. So even if you can see a small
image of Earth, it gives you a sense of stress relief. What
will happen when you go into deep space and you no
longer have that image?
“The famous naturalist E.O. Wilson posed the theory of
‘biophilia’ – love for nature – that human beings evolved
in nature and they are indelibly connected with it. We
know that from past research, people in hospitals who
see images of nature after an operation have higher rates
of healing than those who don’t.
“ %