Surviving in Space: The Truth About Human Adaptation and Evolution

[curiousTrys]

I want to know the answers to the following:

1. What REALLY happens to the naked human body in the void of space (the areas far between galaxies, where nothing really exists)?
2. Can humans evolve and adapt to survive in space?
3. (Adding on to the previous) can we slowly depressurize (akin to scuba diving) to survive in space?
4. How could we survive in space without air? (This is asking how we can learn to adapt beyond the need for our atmosphere, with the goal of surviving in space)All of these questions are very linked and I expect that the answers to them are likely unknown. It's a scary, profound though that may just be worth the time. Please give a real response and explain why or why not.

 

[russ_watters]

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11
2. No.
3. We can't.
4. We can't.

 

[curiousTrys]

1. It boils.
2. No.
3. We can't.
4. We can't.

It boils due to a sudden change in pressure, as in that of a scuba diver resurfacing too fast from deep waters.
It is for that reason that I believe we can find a way around this. Question 4 I expected a "we can't" from.
However, if you don't wish to contribute reason and provide an explanation for your responses that satisfies me, I'm inclined not to believe you. Thank you for your response.

 

[russ_watters]

It boils due to a sudden change in pressure, as in that of a scuba diver resurfacing too fast from deep waters.

I edited and provided a link with a better description. Suffocation is part of the answer too.

It is for that reason that I believe we can find a way around this.

That is, frankly, silly. Divers are returning to the normal human environment. It's the abruptness of the return that is dangerous. Space is a deadly environment regardless of how you get there. And plenty have died from lack of oxygen short of space.

Question 4 I expected a "we can't" from.
However, if you don't wish to contribute reason and provide an explanation for your responses that satisfies me, I'm inclined not to believe you. Thank you for your response.

K. The answer is, frankly, obvious, and there's nothing to prove. I'm not sure what kind of response would satisfy you, but you can't prove a negative and I suspect you might have an idea you're not saying that I therefore can't respond to.

 

[curiousTrys]

I edited and provided a link with a better description. Suffocation is part of the answer too.

That is, frankly, silly. Divers are returning to the normal human environment. It's the abruptness of the return that is dangerous. Space is a deadly environment regardless of how you get there. And plenty have died from lack of oxygen short of space.

K. The question and answe is, frankly, obvious, and there's nothing to prove. I'm not sure what kind of response would satisfy you, but you can't prove a negative and I suspect you might have an idea you're not saying that I therefore can't respond to.

You might think it silly, but it's absolutely correct. It boils because of the low pressure creating expanding gas. In a hypothetical that we in fact can survive this pressure change by entering the vacuum slowly enough, that would only leave the issue of lack of air. If we managed to adapt beyond the need for air, I suppose the only other factor to my knowledge would be cosmic radiation. Life has proven adaptable. It is a slow process, at which we are still immature. It would obviously take up a lot of time, but you haven't convinced me that the process of evolving beyond the need for earth simply is not possible. Suffice it to say that your Wikipedia article is not a reliable source. I didn't even bother to read it because "Wikipedia" was all I needed to know. Please reply with a credible source if you're going to provide information you want to pass off as a fact.

 

[FactChecker]

Suffice it to say that your Wikipedia article is not a reliable source. I didn't even bother to read it because "Wikipedia" was all I needed to know. Please reply with a credible source if you're going to provide information you want to pass off as a fact.

IMO, Wikipedia is very often a good starting place.

According to LiveScience, there is only one animal, Henneguya salminicola, that does not breathe. One theory is that it evolved from cancer. It is unlikely that humans would evolve that way. I am not an expert on evolution, but it is my belief that most evolution is not a specific response to the environment but rather the result of having a large variety of pre-existing mutations so that some will survive anything. I do not see those pre-existing mutations that would help humans survive without oxygen in deep space.

 

[Motore]

To me it seems you don't understand how evolution, biology, pressure, temperature and a couple of other things work. Can you provide any evidence that a living beign bigger than 1 mm ever survived in outer space?

 

[russ_watters]

You might think it silly, but it's absolutely correct. It boils because of the low pressure creating expanding gas. In a hypothetical that we in fact can survive this pressure change by entering the vacuum slowly enough, that would only leave the issue of lack of air.

Of course you can depressurize slowly/partially enough to ensure that it is clearly suffocation that kills you. That's a thing that happens, unfortunately, in airplanes sometimes. That wasn't the silly part, the silly part is survival in space with no oxygen regardless of what kills you first.

If we managed to adapt beyond the need for air, I suppose the only other factor to my knowledge would be cosmic radiation. Life has proven adaptable. It is a slow process, at which we are still immature. It would obviously take up a lot of time, but you haven't convinced me that the process of evolving beyond the need for earth simply is not possible. Suffice it to say that your Wikipedia article is not a reliable source. I didn't even bother to read it because "Wikipedia" was all I needed to know. Please reply with a credible source if you're going to provide information you want to pass off as a fact.

1. Wikipedia is an acceptable source here for straightforward information like this.
2. The level of speculation you are doing is unfit for discussion on PF and this thread is therefore locked.
3. 1+2=irony