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Astronomy Wonder Project – Interplanetary Settlement

  By Louwrens • May 16, 2022

Interplanetary Settlement refers to the proposed permanent settlement and exploitation of natural resources of astronomical bodies other than Earth. As such, it represents a type of human presence in space that extends beyond human spaceflight and space outpost operations.

Reasons for Human Space colonisation

Survival of human civilization:

The long-term survival of human civilization and terrestrial life is the primary reason for space colonisation. By establishing alternate sites outside of Earth, the Earth’s population, especially humans, may survive natural or man-made disasters on our own planet. Stephen Hawking, a theoretical physicist and cosmologist, has advocated for space colonisation as a method of preserving mankind on two occasions. Hawking warned in 2001 that the human race will become extinct over the next thousand years unless space colonies can be constructed. In 2010, he declared that mankind had two choices: either occupy space over the next two hundred years, or we will face the long-term prospect of extinction.

Vast resources in space:

There are immense resources in space, both in terms of minerals and energy. According to various estimates, the Solar System alone has enough energy and materials to sustain anywhere from several thousand to over a billion times the current Earth-based human population, largely from the Sun itself. Asteroid mining will also play an important role in space colonisation. Asteroids are rich in water and resources for building structures and shielding. To improve space travel, mining and fuel stations can be created on asteroids rather than on Earth.

Alleviating overpopulation and resource demand:

One reason for space colonisation is to offset the effects of global overpopulation, such as resource depletion. If the resources of space were made available for utilisation and suitable life-supporting habitats were developed, Earth’s boundaries of expansion would no longer be defined. Despite the fact that many of Earth’s resources are non-renewable, off-planet colonies might provide the bulk of the planet’s resource needs. The availability of extraterrestrial resources would reduce demand for earthly resources.

Expansion with fewer negative consequences:

Human expansion and technological advancement have typically led in some type of environmental degradation and the loss of habitats and the animals that inhabit them. In the past, expansion has frequently resulted in the displacement of numerous indigenous peoples, with the resultant treatment of these peoples ranging from encroachment to genocide. Because there is no known life in space, this does not have to be a problem, as some supporters of space settlement have pointed out.

Locations

Location is a frequent source of disagreement among advocates of space colonization. Colonization can occur on a physical body planet, dwarf planet, natural satellite, asteroid, or an orbiting one.

Mercury:

Mercury, once assumed to be a volatile-depleted world like our Moon, is now discovered to be volatile-rich, in fact, richer in volatiles than any other terrestrial body in the inner Solar System. The planet also gets six and a half times the solar flux of the Earth/Moon system, making solar energy a tremendously efficient energy source that could be harvested by orbiting solar arrays and transmitted to the surface or exported to other worlds. A Mercury colony, on the other hand, would need extensive protection from radiation and solar flares.

Venus:

The colonisation of Venus has been the topic of numerous works of science fiction, and it is currently being debated both fictionally and scientifically. However, after the discovery of Venus’s highly hostile surface climate, interest has switched mostly to the colonisation of the Moon and Mars, with suggestions for Venus focusing on dwellings floating in the upper-middle atmosphere and terraforming.

Venus has several parallels to Earth that, if not for the inhospitable environment, may make colonisation easier in many ways compared to other viable places. Venus has been dubbed Earth’s “sister planet” due to its similarities and closeness. Venus also poses numerous major hurdles to human settlement. The weather conditions on Venus are daunting: the temperature at the equator is roughly 450 °C, which is greater than the melting point of lead. The surface atmospheric pressure is also at least ninety times stronger than on Earth, which is similar to the pressure felt beneath a kilometre of water. Additionally, water in any form is virtually nonexistent on Venus. The atmosphere is mostly composed of carbon dioxide and lacks molecular oxygen. Furthermore, the visible clouds are made up of caustic sulfuric acid and sulphur dioxide vapour.

The Moon:

Because of its closeness to Earth and lower escape velocity, the Moon has been proposed as a potential settlement location. Abundant ice in some locations may supply a lunar colony’s water demands. However, the Moon’s lack of atmosphere gives no protection from space radiation or meteoroids, therefore lunar lava tubes have been considered as a solution. The Moon’s low surface gravity is also a source of worry, since it is uncertain if 1/6g is sufficient to sustain human health for lengthy periods of time. Interest in creating a moon base as a gateway to Mars colonisation has grown in the twenty-first century, with concepts such as the Moon Village for research, mining, and trading facilities with permanent inhabitants.

Mars:

Mars colonisation has piqued the curiosity of both governmental and corporate space organisations, and has received significant theoretical portrayal in science fiction literature, cinema, and artwork. Organizations have suggested proposals for a human expedition to Mars, the first stage in any colonisation endeavour, but no one has stepped foot on the planet, and no return journeys have been completed. Landers and rovers, on the other hand, have successfully investigated the planetary surface and given data regarding ground conditions. Interest, the ability for people to offer more in-depth observational studies than unmanned rovers, commercial interest in its resources, and the prospect that the settlement of other planets might reduce the chance of human extinction are all reasons for populating Mars. Difficulties and risks include radiation exposure during the travel to Mars and on its surface, poisonous soil, reduced gravity, the loneliness that comes with Mars’ distance from Earth, a lack of water, and freezing temperatures.

Asteroid belt:

The asteroid belt has a large amount of material accessible, but it is thinly scattered since it covers such a large area of space. Ceres is the biggest asteroid, with a diameter of around 940 kilometres, large enough to be considered a dwarf planet. Pallas and Vesta, both around 520 kilometres in diameter, are the next two biggest. Unpiloted supply spacecraft should be able to reach 500 million kilometres of space with no technical advancement.

Ceres possesses easily available water, ammonia, and methane, which are critical for Mars and Venus’ survival, fuel, and even terraforming. The colony might be developed either on the surface or beneath. However, even Ceres has a minuscule surface gravity of 0.03g, which is insufficient to offset the deleterious consequences of microgravity while making transit to and from Ceres simpler. As a result, either medical treatments or artificial gravity would be necessary. Furthermore, colonising the main asteroid belt would very certainly necessitate the presence of infrastructure on the Moon and Mars.

What is the ideal place for humans?

Mars appears to be our greatest bet for long-term interplanetary colonisation. It has one-third the gravity of Earth, it takes just five to six months to travel there with present technology, and it has vast amounts of ice that might be transformed into liquid water. Solar panels can be easily placed on the planet’s surface as an energy source, and Elon Musk has a not-so-crazy proposal to create fuel on the planet using atmospheric methane.

Although the red planet is not as awful as other locations, it is still a freezing, barren, lifeless wasteland. Certain creatures will not be harmed by this, but humans will still need to construct pressurised dwellings capable of bringing temperatures to a reasonable range and life support systems capable of providing food, water, and oxygenated air as required. There’s also the issue of the planet’s surface being exposed to high levels of UV light and solar radiation in the absence of a substantial atmosphere or magnetic field. And if a solar storm were to strike the planet, it would destroy virtually all critical electronic equipment on the ground and in space.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Building a Marsbase is a Horrible Idea: Let’s do it! Perf. Steve Taylor. Kurzgesagt. 2019. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqKGREZs6-w&list=PL_tf9drfAM_1XOzbklaJMC9Y4KBLwSGXM&index=2>.

Colonization of Mars. 9 May 2022. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Mars>.

Colonization of the Moon. 8 May 2022. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_the_Moon>.

Colonization of Venus. 28 March 2022. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonization_of_Venus>.

How To Terraform Venus (Quickly). Perf. Steve Taylor. Kurzgesagt. 2021. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-WO-z-QuWI&list=PL_tf9drfAM_1XOzbklaJMC9Y4KBLwSGXM&index=6>.

How We Could Build a Moon Base TODAY – Space Colonization 1. Perf. Steve Taylor. Kurzgesagt. 2019. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtQkz0aRDe8&list=PL_tf9drfAM_1XOzbklaJMC9Y4KBLwSGXM&index=1>.

Patel, Neel V. THE BEST EXTRATERRESTRIAL WORLDS TO COLONIZE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. 5 September 2017. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.inverse.com/article/30832-6-best-extraterrestrial-worlds-colonize-solar-system>.

Space colonization. 27 April 2022. web. 14 May 2022. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_colonization#Vast_resources_in_space>.

Unlimited Resources From Space – Asteroid Mining. Perf. Steve Taylor. Kurzgesagt. 2021. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8XvQNt26KI&list=PL_tf9drfAM_1XOzbklaJMC9Y4KBLwSGXM&index=4>.

What If Humanity Became an Interstellar Species? What If. 2018. Web. 14 May 2022. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VzSqYooxmw>.

 

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Biotechnology – Vaccines, Hormones, and Antibiotics

  By Louwrens • April 9, 2022

In this blog post 3 big questions are answered,

  1. Discuss the greatest advancement with regards to your topic and provide examples.  
  2. How is this form of biotechnology best used? 
  3. How is this form of biotechnology changing the world as we continue to advance towards the future?

1. Vaccines: 

Before, viruses and fatal plagues contaminated Earth’s population, injuring and eventually killing millions of people. Medicine was more of a spiritual thing back then and only a few people had a sliver of ideas on how the body worked. Now, we can provide aid and assistance to people that contract these diseases with vaccines. Vaccines are a type of medicine that helps your body build immunity to certain sicknesses. Scientists use gene therapy to create these liquid protectors by using vectors. Vectors are organisms that carry pathogens (microorganisms that can cause disease) and give those pathogens to other living things. This is helpful because by using vectors, scientists can implant a certain virus or strand of DNA into it and put that into the human body which helps build protective cells for that specific illness. To transport the DNA to the targeted cell within the body, vectors use capsids (virus shell) to transmit a message to the targeted cell on what to do to protect the body. Without this technology, so many more lives would have been lost because of viruses like COVID-19 and what is a global pandemic, could have become global extinction.

1. Hormones:

Recombinant DNA or rDNA is the method used to make hormones by combining two or more DNA molecules to create a hybrid. The techniques used during the rDNA process have helped scientists in identifying what proteins are used in hormones to create more and different kinds. Hormones are used to coordinate processes within the body and can alter growth, fertility, and metabolism. rDNA involves extracting a piece of DNA structure that contains the trait or traits wanted and implanting it into the genome. A genome is in our cells and are the instructions needed to create us and what we need. There are 5 steps involved to create these hormones.

  1. Get the desired trait/genetic material on its own
  2. Make a spot for it in the vector (cut out unwanted material)
  3. Amplify the one gene into millions of the same gene
  4. Join the vector and gene/DNA together
  5. Insert DNA into host (once inserted it gets multiplied)

That DNA is then put into vectors to deliver them to the targeted cell to be multiplied inside the body or to be displayed. This DNA can be engineered to replicate itself inside the body when put in bacteria or yeast. With the DNA inside the bacteria, it can then tell the bacteria to copy itself to make more cells and distribute them throughout the body. This process is called DNA cloning or recombinant DNA. Because of the demand for hormones, this process and technology greatly benefits people all around the world.

1.Antibiotics

Antibiotics are drugs or medication used to kill bacterial infections within the body or delay the effects of it. These drugs are created in a lab where scientists use some of Earth’s resources like fungi who are good at dominating and killing their competition within their habitat and and within their food chain.

2.Vaccines

Vaccines are used to help people by using a small or dead strain of the virus to fight the virus. In some vaccines they use mRNA to fight the virus.  With covid 19 there is multiple vaccines some with a strain of covid and some mRNA vaccines used to kill the virus.

2.Antibiotics

Antibiotics are used to help people that are hurt or sick. Antibiotics are made in large amounts they do this by cultivating and manipulating fungal cells. 

2.Hormones

Hormones are made to help people with there mood or get them stronger with steroids. Scientists have known about stuff like growth hormones since 1920 but they only started using them around  1963.

 

3.Future of Antibiotics:

Transcription, the initial stage in gene expression, is carried out by the enzyme RNA polymerase (RNAP), which is controlled by a number of protein transcription factors. RNAP and its related transcription factors are highly conserved across the bacterial domain, making them ideal targets for the development of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. Despite the fact that there are countless antibiotics on the market, only two series have been approved to target transcription. The high-resolution identification of the three-dimensional structures of RNAP and transcription complexes during the last 15 years has reignited interest in using rational structure-based techniques to target this critical pathway for antibiotic development.

Because of the rapid rise of high-resolution structural knowledge on RNAP and transcription complexes that is becoming available, more targeted techniques are now conceivable. More rational procedures that require the meticulous building of templates (pharmacophores) around which inhibitors are formed can be used to explore chemical space for the design and development of novel inhibitor molecules. These methods can be utilised to develop/improve drugs that target RNAP’s enzymatic activity as well as protein-protein interactions.

Antibiotics originating from natural products (e.g., penicillin) and synthetic chemicals both have a place in history (e.g., fluoroquinones). What matters most is government and industry commitment and investment to guarantee that all options are thoroughly investigated to ensure the continuous discovery and development of crucial medications. One area where there is a lot of unexplored potential is bacterial transcription targeting.

3.Future of Vaccines:

For more than 25 years, university laboratories have been investigating the use of RNA rather than viruses to strengthen the body’s immune system. According to the researchers, mRNA can be utilised to make a range of vaccinations and medicines in less time and for less money than existing approaches. In the early 1990s, mRNA emerged as a viable alternative to traditional vaccine development. mRNA is a molecule that serves as a blueprint for cells to construct certain proteins. Proteins are essential for a viral infection’s success because they allow the virus to multiply once it has attached to a cell. The vaccines’ theory is that mRNA instructs a cell to produce a protein used by a specific virus, triggering an immune response that strengthens the body’s ability to fight the virus. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, the idea showed promise in lab studies and animal trials, with researchers attempting to develop cancer medicines and vaccinations to defend against viral infections like influenza, Ebola, and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). The technology’s effectiveness was hampered by a number of stubborn flaws. Getting mRNA into a cell was challenging, as mRNA generated acute inflammation and was swiftly eliminated by the body. Using synthetic RNA that the body’s immune system doesn’t recognise and encasing it in lipid nanoparticles (fat bubbles) that easily slide into cells, mRNA researchers consider this a milestone. Human trials for mRNA vaccines against HIV, influenza, Zika, and rabies began in 2017. A pandemic can strike at any time, but the advent of COVID-19 in December 2019 provided an ideal opportunity for mRNA research. Just as the world sorely needed a vaccine to be created faster than ever, the technology was ready for a real-world test. Malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and cystic fibrosis are just a few of the diseases that researchers believe will benefit from mRNA vaccines and therapies in the future. Scientists are still looking into mRNA therapies for a variety of cancers. According to University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center experts, mRNA tells a patient’s cells to generate protein fragments depending on a tumor’s genetic alterations, causing the immune system to seek out other cells that have the mutant proteins and target the tumour cells that remain. At the same time, the researchers caution against setting unrealistic expectations. Although confirmed adverse effects from COVID-19 mRNA vaccinations have been modest in all but a few cases thus far, there is still much to learn. To gain public acceptance, effective education regarding the negative effects and misinformation, such as that mRNA can modify someone’s genetic composition, will be required. Other issues exist outside of the realm of science, few diseases can elicit the kind of worldwide response that COVID-19 did in terms of finance, commitment of top-tier scientific resources, collaboration, and public support.

3.Future of Hormones:

The reduction of sex steroid hormones with age has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in both men and women. The principal female hormone oestrogen and the primary male hormone testosterone have a number of preventive effects in the brain that are relevant to the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, such as increasing neuron survival, reducing – amyloid buildup, and reducing tau hyperphosphorylation. As a result, it’s been proposed that a rapid decrease of these hormones, whether due to menopause or normal ageing, can increase vulnerability of a AD pathogenesis. The discovery of selective oestrogen and androgen receptor modulators may be one of the most promising translational tools thus far. However, more study is needed to improve these and other integrative approaches in order to successfully use hormone therapy in both men and women to postpone, prevent, or treat Alzheimer’s disease.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

9 September 2020. Government of Canada. Web. 4 April 2022. <https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/biologics-radiopharmaceuticals-genetic-therapies/activities/fact-sheets/regulation-vaccines-human-canada.html>.

Boundless, General Microbiology at. 7.1H: Production of Vaccines, Antibiotics, and Hormones. 5 March 2021. Web. 1 April 2022. <https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_General_Biology_(Boundless)/17%3A_Biotechnology_and_Genomics/17.1%3A_Biotechnology/17.1H%3A_Production_of_Vaccines_Antibiotics_and_Hormones#title>.

Boyle, Patrick. mRNA technology promises to revolutionize future vaccines and treatments for cancer, infectious diseases. 29 March 2021. Web. 4 April 2022. <https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/mrna-technology-promises-revolutionize-future-vaccines-and-treatments-cancer-infectious-diseases>.

Carroll, Jenna C. and Emily R. Rosario. The potential use of hormone-based therapeutics for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. 9 January 2012. Web. 8 April 2022. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22329650/>.

Kabir. Vaccines, Antibiotics, and hormones. 8 may 2020. Web. 30 March 2022. <https://myriverside.sd43.bc.ca/kabirm2018/2020/05/08/vaccines-antibiotics-and-hormones/>.

Ma, Cong, Xaio Yang and Peter J. Lewis. Bacterial Transcription as a Target for Antibacterial Drug Development. 13 January 2016. Web. 8 April 2022. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4771368/>.

Organization, World Health. How are vaccines developed. 8 December 2020. Web. 4 April 2022. <https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/how-are-vaccines-developed>.

Petechuk, David. Genetics. Ed. Katherine H., Nemeh and Jacqueline L. Longe. 2021. Gale, a Cengage Company. Web. 30 March 2022. <https://go.gale.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Reference&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&hitCount=2&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CCX8124401091&docType=Topic+overview&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAR-VRL&prodId>.

Table 2 Clinical trials with mRNA vaccines against infectious diseases. 29 March 2021. Nature Portfolio. Web. 4 April 2022. <https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.243/tables/2>.

Vectors 101. 11 May 2021. Web. 4 April 2022. <https://patienteducation.asgct.org/gene-therapy-101/vectors-101>.