"Cyborgs and space"

Source: Cyberneticzoo

(reprinted with permission of the journal Astronautics, September 1960 issue)

Instead of trying to create a kind of home planet everywhere, it is much more logical to change yourself in accordance with the extraterrestrial environment ... one of the ways to achieve results can be systems of artificial organs that increase human abilities through unconscious self-control.

Flying into space challenged humanity not only in a technological sense, but also in a moral one, giving everyone a reason to become an active participant in their personal biological evolution. Scientific progress may in the future allow people to exist in such conditions that are completely different from what we used to call "natural."
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We just started to understand how homeostasis works, and it became clear how much it would take to advance the understanding of the principles of its self-government in order to solve the problem of human adaptation to any environment. However, for many years, evolution could not offer any other option than gradual adjustment. Now it’s real, without expecting favors from hereditary variability , to move on to the next stage, changing the way of life that people are accustomed to through biochemical, physiological and electronic supplements. Indeed, in many respects the stability of the internal equilibrium of any known organisms is due to external factors. But we have with you, hibernating animals and poikilothermic fish completely different ways to maintain the working temperature in relation to the "body-external world."

Life solves a different problem in another way - breathing. Mammals, fish, insects and plants, each species is perfectly adapted to the restrictions in which it lives. But if someone wants to go beyond the boundaries of their existence, they immediately face the "insurmountable" problem.

However, such a "irresistible"? It is clear that the fish will not be able to get out of the water, want it this very second. But suppose that fish has intelligence and sufficient resources, it understands biochemistry and physiology, received a master’s degree in engineering and cybernetics, and also uses excellent laboratories — such a fish would surely be able to design an apparatus that allows it to breathe air and walk on the ground without the presence of lungs and legs.

Soon, scientists will have enough information to create devices that will allow a person to turn similar tricks. Now we are very interested in space. How to change, to live in it without harm to yourself? A tiny capsule with an artificial atmosphere will descend for a temporary shelter, but such a shelter is extremely dangerous, because we become like a fish that has taken a scoop of water with us on land hoping to survive. This "balloon" is too vulnerable.

When trying to plan at least an interplanetary flight, biologists at once have a lot of various questions. The validity of long expeditions, not in days, months or years, but in several millennia, can be so harsh that all existing approaches to the psychology and physiology of the crew must be rethought.

About this, in fact, our article. Some solutions can be implemented at the current level of development of knowledge and technology. Others are only projections of the likely future and look more like science fiction. For example, the functions of the respiratory system can be maintained much less cumbersome and more effective methods. One recipe, from the closest available, is quite simple: do not breathe!

If you stop trying to create an earth-like environment everywhere and instead try to partially adapt to open space, a number of new paths will open up. One of them leads to the idea that the internal biological balance of a person that has changed by connecting exogenous devices will give a chance to live in space like at home . The autonomic nervous system and the endocrine glands will work together to serve the biochemistry that has changed under the new world. Such a process will become unconscious, but it can be consciously interfered with. But of course, in order to set up all this miracle automation properly, we will need extensive knowledge in the field of physiology and control theory.

"Cyborg" - frees "man" to comprehend

What is required for the self-regulating “man-machine” system? Obviously, everything “built-in” must obey the body’s own control mechanisms and interact organically with them in conjunction. For the complex, which consists of living tissue and artificial "parts", but functions and feels at the same time as a whole, we propose the term "cyborg." Cyborg intentionally adds additional external components to itself, expanding the range of adaptation of its own systems to the new environment.

If an astronaut is constantly forced, in addition to piloting, to engage in various adjustments and equipment checks, he becomes a slave to a technician. The essence of the “cyborg” as a homeostatic system is that the “robot” independently takes care of the “mechanical” affairs independently and without undue supervision, unloading the “person” for research, thoughts, actions and impressions.

Some devices that allow the creation of a “cyborg” exist already now, for example, a capsular pump on an osmotic drive of a very ingenious construction, developed by S. Rose for the gradual introduction of biochemical preparations with a given intensity. The capsule is embedded in the body and allows you to deliver a specific substance to a specific organ with a pre-selected frequency, without in any way disrupting the functioning of the organism as a whole. At the moment, models are available that can operate with volumes of about 0.01 milliliter per day and function for at least 200 days, and there are no obstacles to significantly increasing this period. The instrument was tested on rabbits, rats, and also for continuing for a certain period of heparin injections to humans. When implanted into animals, no side effects were found. About five years ago, an injector with a length of 7 centimeters and 1.4 centimeters in diameter, weighing about 15 grams, was repeatedly implanted under the skin of rats weighing 150-250 grams without any problems. In the photo below, a two hundred and twelve gram rat with a similar injector:


Source: Cyberneticzoo

(translator's note: in the original article of the Rose-Nelson pump scheme there is no, so it is added for clarity)


Source: Openi.nlm.nih.gov


If you combine an osmotic capsule with sensors and actuators, it is easy to form a contour that will complement the body’s own mechanisms. And the installation performance may vary depending on the need. If you know what awaits the "cyborg", then today you can pre-select the appropriate active substances.

For example, systolic pressure can be regulated by the introduction of vasodilators or adrenostimulyatorov, leading him to the required level. But of course, this implies that we know exactly what kind of blood pressure is required for different conditions of outer space.

Since it is difficult to say what a “normal” limit is, if we are talking about the physiological and psychological capabilities of people, but we can set a minimum level, based on the observations of yogis and hypnotists. Even newcomers to the School of Yoga demonstrate astounding muscle control; hypnosis, on the other hand, can be useful from the point of view that it is difficult to even imagine how disunity in a team will manifest itself in long-haul flights, the habit of interpreting instructions freely or unwillingness to perform assigned tasks.

Since the development of new drugs that increase hypnotizability is underway, the use of hypnosis along with pharmaceuticals looks tempting.

Psycho-physiological difficulties

Let us now turn to some specific problems of a physiological and psychological nature, which manifest themselves in space flights, and try to reflect on how the flexibility of the “cyborg” will help to handle “human” natural needs.

Wakefulness For relatively short flights from several weeks to months, it would be advisable to keep an astronaut constantly awake and in a state of maximum readiness for surprises. Today, this can be achieved with the help of psychostimulants combined with additional drugs. If the flight lasts at least a month or longer, then thanks to the preparations, only a couple of hours of sleep per day will suffice. Tests show that in this mode, the performance is growing rather than falling, so that this technique looks quite feasible.

The effect of radiation. One of the cyborg subsystems will necessarily be a radiation detector combined with an osmotic pump for the automatic introduction of radioprotectors in the right doses. Experiments of the Military School of Aerospace Medicine of the United States Air Force on monkeys have shown an increase in radiation resistance with the introduction of a mixture of aminoethyl isothiourate and cysteine.

Metabolism and control of hypothermia. In the case of a long flight, the projected consumption per person is 5 kilograms - a kilogram of oxygen, 2 kilograms of liquid and 2 kilograms of food - which causes certain difficulties. For durations of more than a year, assuming "all equipment works without failures and breakdowns", it is logical to put the crew to sleep and wake up only in emergency situations. Hypothermia is a good option to slow down the metabolism and reduce the consumption of "human fuel." The combination of cooling the body, blood through arterial-venous shunts and hibernation (through the effect on the pituitary gland), by itself or in conjunction with pharmaceuticals, will provide an opportunity to lie down in sleep and stabilize it for a long time. A more preferable way would be to force the thermoregulation center to lower the body temperature on its own, without external funds.

Oxygen saturation and carbon dioxide removal. In space, oddly enough, there is no oxygen, so not only is there nothing to breathe, there are also difficulties with removing carbon dioxide accumulating in the process, heat and liquid. If there was a "reverse" electrochemical cell (translator's note: a "normal" electrochemical cell, also known as a "fuel cell", converts chemicals into electricity, therefore, "reverse" implies chemical transformations under the influence of electricity) , which decomposes carbon dioxide into components By allowing carbon to be removed and oxygen back into the respiratory cycle, the need for lungs would disappear. Such a system, powered by solar or atomic energy, would even make breathing unnecessary as a fact. However, the ability to habitually breathe in a suitable atmosphere could be left, returning it by simply disconnecting electrochemical converters.

Supply and discharge of liquids. In general, fluid balance can be achieved by installing shunts from the ureters to the venous circulation, removing or converting harmful substances. Sterilization of the gastrointestinal tract paired with intravenous or intragastric nutrition will reduce the amount of fecal matter to a minimum, and they can also be recycled.

Enzymes When cooling the body, the activity of different enzymes will be different from the nominal one. Of course, no one was engaged in a systematic study of the influence of chemical or pharmacological agents on enzyme activity, but without a doubt, it is vital to influence them if we play with temperature. Again, due to the fact that the whole metabolism is controlled by enzymes, intriguing ideas come to mind. For example, some microorganisms in the laboratory under the influence of radiation are converted from aerobic to anaerobic, and the analysis of their enzyme system can give an understanding of how to change into a human correspondence. Thus, researchers can be prepared for a specific gas composition of the atmosphere.

Vestibular apparatus. Disorientation or the usual discomfort caused by weightlessness can be overcome with drugs, temporary drainage or vice versa with complete filling of the inner ear with fluid, and many other ways, including purely chemical ones. Hypnosis can also help.

The cardiovascular system. In the study of the role of the cardiovascular system (hereinafter CCC) in homeostasis, the application of management theory to these studies has given so fruitful results that we can confidently speculate on how to “cyborgize” the CCC. Injecting substances such as epinephrine , reserpine , digitalis , amphetamine with the help of Rose injectors will change the work of the CAS for a given situation. You can also change the work of the CAS, as well as specific homeostatic chains, by adjusting the heart rate or affecting certain nerve nodes with electrical stimulation, with the participation of the brain or an external signal.

Muscle tone. A long stay in the fluid (translator's note: apparently meant to compensate for overloads, immerse the astronaut in a capsule with liquid) or simply lack of physical activity will lead to a drop in muscle tone. Despite the fact that the decrease in body temperature and metabolic rate will undoubtedly reduce the negative effects, further research is needed to understand the chemistry of the process and synthesize a protective pharmaceutical.

Distortion of perception. Vision in a rarefied atmosphere or in its absence, works a little differently than we are used to on Earth. Therefore, you should pay attention to the creation of test environments in which you can get used to the features of perception before the start. An important part of the problem is the absence of landmarks in space, and this gives rise to effects like autokinetic illusion . If possible, such things should also be suppressed with the help of pharmaceuticals.

External pressure With an external pressure below 60 mm Hg. Art. the blood begins to boil over even at 36.6 degrees Celsius. Therefore, if an astronaut plans to walk on the casing even without a compensatory suit , methods will be required to reduce the working temperature to such a value that the vapor pressure of liquids inside will not exceed the tissue's ability to hold. Another reason to cool the body.

Fluctuations in outdoor temperature. If, at “extreme” values, one inevitably has to hide inside the spacecraft, some “acceptable” people may well endure outside it. Comfort can be achieved by controlling the reflection and absorption of heat by protective clothing made of porous material and the use of substances that change color and as a result give effective protection against ultraviolet radiation. It will be a suit that is sensitive to light, with chemical regulation of reflectivity to maintain the desired microclimate.

Gravity. Another relation of gravity and inertia to molecular forces, among other things, will change the speed of biochemical processes. Probably, we can improve the quality of life of an astronaut with more or less gravity than the earth, a combination of regulating the temperature of the body and medicines.

Magnetic fields. The adjustment of biochemistry and thermoregulation can also slow down or alleviate certain effects caused by the magnetic fields of the cosmos.

Lack of irritants and activity. As a kind of sensory deprivation , there is sensory immutability, that is, a lack of stimuli, the bogey of astronauts. In most experiments on sensory deprivation, it was the immutability that caused discomfort, and in extreme cases, the appearance of psychosis-like states. But much more dangerous than the immutability of sensations can be the immutability, the impossibility or limited action, since most of the subjects of the experiment usually mentioned the desire to "do at least something." First, the development of working scenarios in which each action will be accompanied by a significant sensory response can help here. Secondly, the medicaments will also be useful here to ease the accumulated stress. Since meaningless and useless in appearance, actions, as well as obvious attempts to evoke at least some sensation in oneself, are very disturbing symptoms.

Psychoses Despite all the initial concern for space travelers, of course, there is a risk that somewhere in the midst of vast interstellar spaces, someone will move their minds, and for such a case no servomechanism has yet been invented. And although an emergency kit may include an osmotic pump charged with highly effective phenothiazines mixed with reserpine , the insane patient often does not recognize the abnormality of his behavior, emotions, or thoughts, and for this reason refuses to take medicine. In such a situation, with a correct assessment of the state of the subject, you should be able to turn on the supply of drugs remotely from the Earth or by the hands of one of the crew members.

Between life and death. We must not lose sight of the possibility of an unplanned emergency situation, which will lead to extremely painful injuries for the astronaut, or other torment. In this case, he should be able to fall into any unconscious state, if he considers it necessary. We believe that the best way out is prolonged sleep, induced electronically or pharmacologically.

Other difficulties

Of course, with the help of pharmacology, it is possible to defeat a smaller number of problems that are not on this list due to the limitations on the volume of publication. These are things like nausea, dizziness, seasickness, sexual needs, vibration tolerance and so on.

However, all of the above is just an attempt to make us think about what “cyborg” can give us in the context of space travel. Even in spite of some “unreality” of the stated approaches, many will notice references to Soviet technical literature telling about research in the same fields. Russians offer a preliminary oversaturation of the atmosphere with oxygen in the early stages of launch; report on the effect on the vestibular apparatus by combining surgery with drugs; study the features of the perception of the eye and the principles of its movement in the construction of the visual image; find out how the decrease in temperature acts on the pressure in the vessels, and so on.

Success in answering many technical questions related to space flight, through the adaptation of the organism to the environment, and not vice versa, will not only be a significant step forward in scientific progress, but also open up a new, huge space for human determination.

Scan version of the original article in PDF format can be downloaded here .