July 15, 2017

Human Hibernation

Since Yuri Gagarin achieved the first manned space flight in April 1961, humans have been fascinated by space travel. The world watched as Neil Armstrong walked on the moon in July 1969. Since then, space programs have been looking to the next frontier: humans landing on Mars. According to NASA, a trip to the red planet will require astronauts to spend 250 days confined in a spacecraft to reach the destination.

On this edition of the Mayo Clinic Radio program, Dr. Matthew Kumar, an anesthesiologist at Mayo Clinic, will explain how Mayo Clinic is working with NASA to research medically induced hypothermia. This kind of human hibernation could be a way to help astronauts travel to Mars. Also on the program, Dr. Sundeep Khosla, an endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic, explains the importance of vitamin D. And Jennifer Welper, an executive chef with the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, will share ideas for healthy summer grilling.