[The following is an exact transcript of this podcast.]
[Captain Kirk:] “Would you mind telling me what this is all about, Mister?” No problem, Captain. A study in the Journal of Applied Physiology shows that artificial gravity should prevent a big problem faced by astronauts who stay weightless for extended periods. [Kirk:] “Are you a doctor?” Well, no, but I know the weightlessness problem: muscle decay.
Fifteen healthy men spent three weeks lying in bed. Such inactivity produces similar muscle losses as weightlessness. But eight of the volunteers were spun around in a NASA centrifuge 30 times a minute for an hour each day. The forces produced are equivalent to standing up in about two and a half times normal gravity. The spun guys kept making leg muscle proteins normally. But muscle production in the unspun group was cut almost in half.
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The study has implications for elderly people here on Earth. [Kirk:] “I’m 34 years old.” Actually, if today’s 78-year-old Shatner were hospitalized, he’d quickly lose muscle. But getting Bill to stand up and move just a little each day could help him ward off muscle decay. [Kirk:] “What are we doing here?” [McCoy:] “Maybe they’re throwing us a retirement party.” [Scotty:] “That suits me, I just bought a boat.”
—Steve Mirsky
