With missions targeting the Moon and Mars, the question becomes even more important: How would the human body change if we saw daylight in outer space?
Reproduction and growth in space have long intrigued researchers, including space birth and perceived or real physiological barriers. Among other things, various experiments have been performed on pregnant mice, fish, and even salamanders in microgravity and other space environments, but no human has yet given birth in space, and no pregnant woman has ever been there.
According to experts, giving birth in space will be one of the biggest challenges facing humans. The low gravity environment would make it very difficult for the mother to push the baby out, and the pregnancy itself also entailed serious risks, because the lack of gravity would lead to decreased bone density – as is the case with astronauts, who after each month in Space Their bone density decreases by 1 – they lose 2%. Since natural birth would be nearly impossible for women with more fragile bones, caesarean section would be more common, which could also have interesting long-term consequences.
Since during evolution, the size of the birth canal also determined the size of the head, according to biologist Scott Solomon, children with larger heads will be born over time, as the limitation implied by the maximum expansion of the birth canal will disappear – He writes the Interested in trade.
According to the scientist, in addition to head size, outer space will also affect our skin color, and our skin will begin to produce new pigments that will help protect us from cosmic rays – just as melanin does from ultraviolet rays. The more melanin the body produces, the darker the skin color becomes, so the researcher believes that the skin of people living in space becomes darker.
In Solomon’s view, people living in space would eventually become so different from their counterparts on Earth that they could easily be considered a different species.
