How do astronauts keep healthy?

How do t he Int ernat ional Space St at ion (ISS) ast ronaut s keep f it ? And what happens, if t hey get ill?
Inside the ISS, the astronauts orbit Earth in a state of weightlessness, and if their stay lasts for weeks or months, keeping fit is a specific challenge. The human body is used to the gravity on Earth, and without this effect, muscles and

bones will weaken fast. After just six months in space, up to 15 % of the muscle mass and up to 10 % of the bone mass will disappear. Consequently, special exercise equipment is required aboard the station. The astronauts exercise in at least three different ways, using treadmills, exercise bikes, and a versatile exercise bench, which can be utilised to strengthen several different groups of muscles. Although astronauts on long missions exercise two hours a day, they will still lose muscle and bone mass, but not as much as without exercise.
If an astronaut is very unlucky and needs medical treatment, at least one of the astronauts on every mission ISS will have

high-level first aid and medication training as the “flight doctor”. Moreover, the space station is stocked with many types of medication, equipment for infection testing of saliva and blood, plus a heart defibrillator. A sophisticated ISS monitoring system keeps an eye on the quality of the air and sounds the alarm if toxic gasses or unhealthy microbes are detected. And as a matter of standard procedure, the staff tests the water quality and whether there are bacteria on any surfaces inside the station. In the longer term, the astronauts’ health may be affected by cosmic radiation, which can cause a slightly increased risk of developing cancer and damage to the nervous system. 

SOLAR-POWERED PLANE TRAVELS ROUND THE WORLD

TECHNOLOGY In March 2015, the Solar Impulse 2 solar cell plane will take off for a 35,000 km mission around the world – without consuming as much as one droplet of fuel. More than 17,000 solar cells mounted on the aircraft wings, which are bigger than those of a jumbo jet, will supply the energy required for the flight.
The Solar Impulse 2 is made of super strong and ultralight carbon fibre composites with a surface of integrated solar panels which will supply all the energy for four propeller

engines. The energy is stored in lithium batteries, allowing the aircraft to remain in the air around the clock.
The solar plane was already introduced in April 2014 and is the successor of the Solar Impulse, which took off for the first time in 2010. The predecessor has completed several missions, including one from San Francisco to New York.
The man behind the plane is engineer Bertrand Piccard. He hopes that the winged solar aircraft can inspire other solar powered planes. 

Flying solar cell is ultralight
The plane body is made of ultralight carbon fibre, consuming as little energy as possible. The top of the plane is covered in 17,000+ solar cells, which supply all the energy. 

Volcanic island doubled

A fuming volcanic island has risen out of the Pacific Ocean about 1,000 km south of the Japanese capital of Tokyo. The volcanic island "vomited" magma, until – after months of slow approaches – fusing with the nearby island of Nishino-shima. The new island is approximately 1000 metres long and 60 metres high at its most elevated point. 

ASTEROIDS COULD DESTROY CITIES

GEOLOGY Scientists have made a list of the number of asteroids that hit Earth in 2000- 2013. A total of 26 times, our world was struck by violent explosions, which were caused by asteroids.
The count demonstrates that asteroid impacts are not rare, but it also shows us how often we should expect asteroid impacts that could ruin entire cities. According to the scientists, an impact of this type takes place

every 100 years. The latest asteroid of this force hit the Russian city of Tunguska in 1908. The asteroid had a 45 m diameter and an explosive energy of 5 megatonnes (corresponding to 5,000 kilotonnes).
The impacts of the report ranked between 1 and 600 kilotonnes, as measured by a global network of sensors. In comparison, the Hiroshima nuclear bomb of 1945 had an explosive power of 15 kilotonnes. 

SCIENTISTS REVEAL KILLER FLY DNA

10,000 people die annually in Africa, infected with sleeping sickness by tsetse flies. Now, scientists on the verge of developing a cure for the disease. After 10 years of work, they have managed to sequence the killer fly’s genome. The scientists have already identified genes in the fly that can cripple it. The knowledge can be used to manufacture new types of insecticides. 

Customised plastic skull replaces growing natural skull.

MEDICINE In ground-breaking surgery, a 22-year-old Dutch woman has had her skull replaced by a 3D printed artificial skull made of plastic. The most extensive of its kind ever performed, the surgery is considered very successful by the surgeons of the University Medical Centre Utrecht south of Amsterdam.
Today, the woman is healthy, symptom- free, and back to work. Before the surgery, she was deathly ill, suffering from a rare disorder that made her skull grow thicker all the time. Normally, a skull is 1.5 cm

thick, but the woman’s measured 5 cm. So her skull began to press against her brain, causing severe headaches. Moreover, the immense pressure meant she was close to going blind and had difficulties controlling her facial muscles.
Based on accurate scans of the woman’s skull, a 3D printer made an exact plastic copy of her skull. When doctors previously replaced the skulls of for instance road accident victims, they made the skulls of a type of cement, but the 3D printed skull fits much more accurately. 

Skull replaced in surgery
After surgeons removed the patient’s skull, they inserted a 3D printed artificial skull, which was an exact copy of the patient’s own skull. Using metal screws, the skull was mounted on the remains of the existing skull. 

WORKMEN FIND TOMB

ARCHAEOLOGY In a grassy Bronze Age burial site in Northern Israel, workmen installing a gas pipe found a sarcophagus, complete with an approximately 3.300-year- old skeleton of an adult man and his golden seal.
The lid of the sarcophagus is made of clay and shaped like a human being, including a life- like impression of a face with hair, ears, and hands folded across the chest.
The seal is the shape of the holy Egyptian scarab beetle.

Attached to a finger ring, it includes the symbol of Pharaoh Seti I, who ruled Egypt from 1304 to 1290 BC and conquered the region of Israel, in which the sarcophagus was excavated. According to one theory, the man in the sarcophagus was a local, who had been hired to be an Egyptian government official. He could also have been an “imposter”, who copied Egyptian burial rites. Scientists believe he was an Israeli with Egyptian relations. 

WHY DOES CO2 HEAT UP EARTH?

CO2, also known as carbon dioxide, is a so-called green- house gas, as it retains heat. When the sunlight hits Earth, Earth emits thermal energy into space in the form of infra- red radiation - which is just electromagnetic radiation with a lower frequency than the light absorbed. At the low- er frequencies, greenhouse

gasses absorb a major part of the radiation energy, and the thermal energy is sent back to Earth. So, heat remains.
Different greenhouse gasses do not equally absorb radiation energy in the infrared spectrum. For instance, methane is much more efficient at holding heat than carbon dioxide. 

WRIST BAND ADJUSTS BODY TEMPERATURE

The Wristify wrist band decreases or increases your body temperature at the back of the wrist. The new temperature spreads to the rest of the body, producing a psychological effect: People feel warmer or cooler than they really are.

Dead 115-year-old reveals limit of life

PHYSIOLOGY In 2005, Hendrikje van Andel- Schipper of the Netherlands passed away at the age of 115. Scientists have studied her body and discovered a possible connection between the number of stem cells and age.

The woman was running out of stem cells. Approximately two thirds of the white blood cells she had left originated from just two blood stem cells. That is very few, as we are born with around 20,000 blood stem cells – and typically, 1,000 stem cells are constantly producing vital white blood cells.

SUPER SATELLITES BECOME EARTH’S GUARDIAN ANGELS

A new fleet of satellites will monitor Earth and protect it against threats. 

TECHNOLOGY 693 km above Earth, you will find the Sentinel-1A satellite, which takes extremely detailed photos of our planet, using a 12-m-long radar antenna. At this point, the satellite has already captured melting glaciers and flooding.
The 2.3 tonne satellite was launched on 3 April 2014, and that is only the beginning of what ESA has named the most extensive observation programme ever focusing on the surface of the Earth. Approaching 2020, a total of five Sentinel missions will be initiated. The satellites will monitor our planet and provide data and high-resolution radar images of anything from pollution, oceans, landscape changes, and flooding to earthquakes.
In 2016, the Sentinel-1A will be followed by a twin, the Sentinel-1B. Together, the two of them are capable of collecting data from anywhere on Earth within a period of six days. The special radar aerial of the satellites enables them to take photographs of Earth when it is cloudy or even dark. These qualities come in handy in connection with emergencies such as flooding, when relief agencies need fast access to data. The future Sentinel satellites will all be assigned a set of unique tasks. 

OTHER REMOTE RECORDS

The most remote land mass is the Bouvet Island territory of Norway, 1,642 km from the island of Gough and 1,700 km from Antarctica.

The most remote bat species

is the Hawaiian Lasiurus cinereus semotus, which lives 4,000 km from its closest relative in North America.

The most remote tree was the Ténéré tree of the Sahara Desert, located 400 km from other trees, until

a car struck and killed it in 1973.

The most remote probe is the Voyager 1, which has moved
19 billion km away from Earth since 1977 and has now left our

Solar System. 

TRISTAN DA CUNHA IS A DOT IN THE OCEAN

Seven families: All Tristans descend from six women and eight men, so here are only seven family  names on the island: Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Repetto, Rogers, and Swain.Volcanic refugees for 1.5 years: In 1961, the volcano of the island erupted, and the entire population was evacuated to England. Most chose to return 18 months later.Successful community:There is no unemployment on Tristan da Cunha. People are busy running for instance a shop, a cafe, a school, and two churches. Once a year, a ship with supplies and mail arrives from Saint Helena.Animals and plants: The Tristans breed cattle and chickens and they grow potatoes in small gardens. The island is also endemic to several wild animal species such as the Tristan albatross. 

The most remote community

2,430 kmto the closest neighbour. That's the concept of "local" for the 263 inhabitants of the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, making their community the most remote on Earth. The nearest inhabited land, the island of Saint Helena, is located 2,430 km to the north, or the same as the distance between Moscow and Amsterdam. The closest mainland is South Africa, 2,800 km to the east.
Tristan da Cunha forms part of an archipelago under British rule including a total of six islands. The 98 km2 island mainly consists of a fertile stratovolcano rising 2,062 m above the ocean surface. The only flat area is located towards the north-west, where you will find the islanders’ homes in the village of Edinburgh.
The Tristans go all the way back to 1816. Napoleon was placed under house arrest on the island of Saint Helena, and the British feared that France would use other Atlantic islands to launch an attack. So, the UK stationed a corporal and his family on Tristan da Cunha. Until 1908, the island experienced limited immigration. Today, the population lives by agriculture, fishery, and the sale of coins.