Friday, February 22, 2013

Space radiation may harm astronaut brains | Reduction

Space radiation may harm astronaut brains

ISS Configuration as of May 2011
ISS Configuration as of May 2011 by AGeekMom
License (according to Flickr): Attribution License
Excerpt:

Little is know about the ultra high-energy cosmic rays that regularly penetrate the atmosphere. Recent IceCube results challenge one of the leading theories, that they come from gamma ray bursts.NSF/J. Yang Radiation in space might harm the brains of astronauts in deep space by accelerating the development of Alzheimer's disease, a new study on mice suggests. The research reveals another risk that manned deep-space missions to places such as Mars or the asteroids could pose, scientists added. "This study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease," study author Kerry O'Banion, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a statement. Space is filled with radiation that can harm people.

People:

Kerry O'Banion

Overall Sentiment: -0.0509913

Relevance: 0.860891

SentimentQuote
-0.253674"galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts," O'Banion said.
-0.0959346"Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop, it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," O'Banion said. ...
-0.123641"Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop, it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," O'Banion said. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a 6-foot (2 meters) block of lead or concrete."
0.036793"These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease," O'Banion said. ...
0.0538205"These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease," O'Banion said. "This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions."
0"This is, of course, the $10 million question," O'Banion told ...
0O'Banion did caution "we gave the radiation all at once — the mice experienced over a few minutes what astronauts will experience over three years. We have no idea whether the biological effects of HZE particles will be the same when given at low dose rates. Many would argue that ours is a worse-case scenario, and that the changes are likely to be entirely different since the body might adapt to small chronic dosing."
-0.178444"I would add that there are at least three other laboratories pursuing similar studies," O'Banion said. ...
-0.056227"I would add that there are at least three other laboratories pursuing similar studies," O'Banion said. "The nice thing about this is that we will soon know if our results hold up in other labs."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 9
  • Aggregate Sentiment: -0.6173071
  • Mean: -0.068589677777778
  • Standard Deviation: 0

Yang

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.227534

Key:

  • Aggregate Sentiment is meant to be an indicator of an individual's overall sentiment.
  • The Mean is meant to be an indicator of an individual's average comment sentiment.
  • The Standard Deviation, when there are enough quotes, will indicate an individual's consistency of sentiment (i.e. a Standard Deviation of 0 would mean they were very consistent in their sentiment and 1 would mean they were very inconsistent).

Note that quote stats are likely to be meaningless beyond the aggregate score due to the tiny sample size. However, they are always provided just in case you find something useful there.

Additional Info:

Organization: NASA

Overall Sentiment: 0.070885

Relevance: 0.390252

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