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If we wish to colonize another world, finding a planet with a gravitational field that humans can survive and thrive under will be crucial. If its gravity is too strong our blood will be pulled down into our legs, our bones might break, and we could even be pinned helplessly to the ground.
Finding the gravitational limit of the human body is something that's better done before we land on a massive new planet. Now, in a paper published on the pre-print server arXiv, three physicists, claim that the maximum gravitational field humans could survive long-term is four-and-a-half times the gravity on Earth.
Or, at least you could if you are an Icelandic strongman – and Game of Thrones monster – who can walk with more than half a metric ton on your back. For mere mortals, the researchers say, it would need to be a little weaker.
[...] For the maximum gravity at which we could take a step, the team turned to Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, an Icelandic strongman who once walked five steps with a 1430 pound log on his back, smashing a 1,000-year-old record[*].
[*] YouTube video.
What's the Maximum Gravity We Could Survive?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday September 22 2018, @02:35PM (7 children)
I clicked on the story expecting to see 2g, not 4.5g.
Everything is heavier, you're under strain all of the time, simple actions that might slightly hurt your foot or leg on Earth could break them at 4.5g. Felt any pain in your feet or ankles lately? FATALITY. You're probably at a much greater risk of cardiovascular disease. Even the spit in your mouth would feel heavy.
It's not clear to me that we can find a habitable planet with such a high gravity. As you increase mass into super-Earth territory, acceleration due to gravity doesn't necessarily go up that much. For example, Kepler-452b [wikipedia.org] has an estimated 5 Earth masses and 1.9g (high uncertainty for the planet's parameters though). HD 40307 g [wikipedia.org] has 7.09 Earth masses and 2.39 Earth radii, so it should have 1.24g surface gravity. With increasing mass, eventually the planet will become a gas dwarf/mini-Neptune/giant with fatal atmospheric pressure, liquid/metallic hydrogen, etc. Chthonian planets [wikipedia.org] would probably be too hot and/or have no atmosphere.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by bzipitidoo on Saturday September 22 2018, @03:01PM (2 children)
I read of an experiment in which chickens were raised in a 2G environment. (They used centrifugal force to mimic heavier gravity.) The chickens survived, growing much thicker legs and heavier bones and musculature.
We also have info from fighter plane pilots and NASA tests. I forget the exact figures, maybe 10G max, maybe up to 15G for a fraction of a second, but direction and duration matter a lot. You can take the most Gs when lying on your back. 4.5G could be okay for standing but too much if you trip. As I recall when looking into how fast a rail gun could safely accelerate human passengers, for launch into orbit, 6G was about the limit for longer durations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @04:34PM (1 child)
Or maybe think in a ladder method. Say 2G steps. I am two Che the size of a average man so I am already at 2G. Yes my brother new are thicker but I run at 12 more n mile. But once the body / populating n live by full time in 2G, that will become in generations the new 1G. Then repeat.
But to me the new concern is eating and pooping. The structure of the body can hold up with a 2G mass but the only niter app plumbing becomes a issue. Since the soft organs will pull down by 2G not. In child bearing comes to issue since that large mass is on not held up by the pelvis and huts over at the end.
(Score: 3, Funny) by PartTimeZombie on Sunday September 23 2018, @11:45PM
Quick everyone run away, the AI are taking over!!!
Well, they will once they learn to form a coherent sentence.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday September 22 2018, @04:24PM (2 children)
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday September 22 2018, @04:43PM (1 child)
Forget birds. How about high gravity hailstones?
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday September 24 2018, @12:56AM
Damn, good point. Having experienced softball sized hail that did almost $15K worth of damage to a $100K semi-truck that would be some 'biblical' hail indeed!
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Sunday September 23 2018, @02:29AM
The other place you might experience high gravity like that could be artificial "gravity" on a space ship that is underway at a constant acceleration. Though even then, there would be little reason to run your spaceship at 4.5 G (except maybe during some short maneuver) as a space ship that can operate at 1 G for any extended period of time is already pretty damn fast.
* A space ship that could do a constant 1 G acceleration could get to Mars in about 3 1/2 days, and would be traveling at about 0.005 C at the halfway point.