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posted by martyb on Saturday September 22 2018, @01:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the powered-exoskeleton? dept.

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?


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  • (Score: 1) by Arik on Saturday September 22 2018, @07:00PM

    by Arik (4543) on Saturday September 22 2018, @07:00PM (#738622) Journal
    That's the next stage after HOMEs are established. HOMEs would be much easier and more profitable for many reasons, one of which is they don't have to be truly self-sufficient, the first one could be quite dependent on Earth but as time go on and more go up the group of them could become self-sufficient.

    At that point it really becomes feasible to exploit resources that are easily accessible from zero-g, the asteroid belt for instance. And once sufficient capital is built up there, a sort of mega-HOME could be built, large enough to be pretty darn self-sufficient.

    It would not go at a La Grange point, but into it's own solar orbit, and would be able to shift that orbit, even to escape it over time, if desired.

    --
    If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?