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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 Runaway1956 on Sunday September 23 2018, @12:55AM (1 child)
I'm not sure we're communicating very well.
In year XXXX we plant our first colony. In year XXXX +a month or two, the colonists discover an unforseen problem. They solve it. In year XXXX +1 they discover a couple more unforeseen problems, and solve them. In time, these solutions add up to "new technology", some of which would have been pretty useless on earth. That is, they build an entire new body of science, which earthdwellers would not, and in some cases, could not, have found.
In year XXXX +50, or +100, or whatever, the residents will be looking back, and mocking earth men and early colonists, much as people today mock medieval Europeans. "They were so BACKWARDS!! I'm sure glad I wasn't born then!"
(Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday September 23 2018, @04:10AM