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  • Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

  • One thing I love about my human friends is that you come from all over this beautiful

  • Earth.

  • But what if one of my future friends was born beyond Earth?

  • What would it be like to be born in space?

  • Well, obviously being born in space would grant you powers like heat vision, super speed,

  • super strength, and give you an affinity for journalism.

  • Oh wait, sorry, I was just thinking of my buddy Kara.

  • Fictional fantasies aside, being born in space or someplace other than Earth might be a little

  • harder than you might think.

  • This is in part due to gravity.

  • One recent study from the University of Montreal found that the reproductive process of plants

  • was affected by changes in gravity.

  • They found that both hypergravity and simulated microgravity had an effect.

  • While the reproductive systems of plants are obviously different than a human’s, this

  • can still give us some insight to how a human’s reproductive system might be affected under

  • different gravitational conditions.

  • However, the recent Space Pup experiment seems to give a more positive light on the possibility

  • of humans being born in space.

  • Space Pup sounds like the most adorable superhero ever, but it’s actually a study of what

  • being on the International Space Station would do to freeze-dried mouse sperm.

  • Although some slight DNA damage occurred, being on the ISS did not impair the birth

  • rate or the normality of the offspring that came from the sperm.

  • Still, mice are not the same as humans, but this study leaves me a bit more optimistic

  • on the thought of human babies being born in space.

  • Overall, it seems to be a little unclear one way or the other on how feasible it is to

  • be born in space, but if we make the assumption that is indeed feasible, just what might a

  • little stellar tike be like?

  • Since the only places humans have been other than Earth is the Moon and our spacecrafts,

  • it makes the most sense to look there as potential new birthplaces.

  • If someone was born on a place like the International Space Station, that baby might develop problems

  • with muscle mass, bone density, and even cardiovascular health.

  • Astronauts on the ISS typically exercise around 2 hours or more every day to counteract the

  • effects of weightlessness on the human body.

  • Without doing so, they’d be more likely to develop the problems mentioned earlier.

  • While adult astronauts can be proactive by exercising, I don’t think a baby will be

  • able to hit the gym as soon as they're born.

  • Come on, chug that protein shake!

  • Also, if a baby was born on the ISS, or maybe a space installation on the moon, there is

  • a good chance that they would develop behavioral issues.

  • NASA has learned that it’s basically inevitable for behavioral issues to occur among groups

  • of people crammed in a small space over a long time, so unless our little friend is

  • given more hospitable conditions than our astronauts are used to, they’d probably

  • develop some problems.

  • These could include a decline in mood, cognition, or interpersonal interaction.

  • One recent finding that could prove interesting for a space-born baby comes from NASA’s

  • Twin Study.

  • This study looks as what nearly a year in space would do to astronaut Scott Kelly, compared

  • to his twin brother, Mark, who remained on Earth.

  • They found that Scott’s telomeres on the ends of his white blood cell chromosomes increased

  • in length while in space.

  • They reported that it could be linked to increased exercise and reduced caloric intake, but it

  • would be pretty amazing if it turns out it was because of his time in space.

  • Weve explored in the past how shortening telomeres seem to be related to aging, so

  • this could potentially be some big news!

  • So what do you think?

  • Will humanity soon have a baby born in space?

  • Let me know in the comments below!

  • Make sure you come back every Monday for a brand new video.

  • As always, I’m Blocko and this has been Life Noggin.

  • Don’t forget to keep on thinking!

Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.

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