Any human who spends enough time in a low-gravity environment — such as a future habitat on the moon — will experience physical changes as their muscles atrophy, their bones lose mass, and their control over their entire body decreases. That's why astronauts spend time behind Earth's atmosphere You must practice On their missions. Without physical fitness, they will struggle to function at even a basic level when they return to Earth gravity.
Now, researchers from the University of Milan have created a new form of exercise to keep the bodies of future lunar residents in shape. It involves running along the wheel of death from within.
The wheel of death, as seen in circuses and amusement parks LandIt usually consists of a large ring laid on its side. The unlucky participant must accelerate along the inside of the wheel quickly enough to avoid falling victim to gravity and thus falling off the wheel.
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Under Earth's gravity, it would be extremely difficult for a human foot to achieve this feat – impossible in fact. Anyone who challenges the wheel needs some type of motorized transportation, usually a motorcycle. But on the Moon, with gravity one-sixth that of Earth, it should be possible for a human to run inside a wheel. In fact, doing so may be a way to simulate running on a flat surface under much higher gravity.
Researchers in Milan wanted to test whether this was possible. They rented a 9.4-meter (30.8 ft)-wide Wheel of Death and had two human participants run along its interior, supporting them with bungee cords from above to simulate lunar gravity conditions.
Both participants can climb onto the wheel, run through it, and descend safely to the ground after just five to eight attempts. When the researchers measured the runners' speeds, stride lengths, and the force generated by their feet hitting the ground, they found that the runners were experiencing conditions not unlike running on the ground.
With these results, the authors believe a few turns of the wheel the moon A day can be just what the doctor Order to prevent degeneration of the body.
The authors published their work on May 1 in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
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