We don’t yet have self-aware robots\u00a0or low cost transportation to orbit but we do have iPhones and Google search. The latter two\u00a0are just as sci-fi as the former two technologies for someone who grew up in the 1960s. The future really is hard to predict. \u00a0Some tech that seemed almost in hand keeps getting pushed further into the future while occasionally something that seemed extremely far-fetched turns out to be\u00a0well within reach.<\/p>\n
For example, suspended animation,\u00a0also referred to as\u00a0induced hibernation or\u00a0extended torpor (see post here<\/a>), has been a common plot device\u00a0in science fiction for ages. It played a prominent role, for example, in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>where several members of a crew going to Jupiter were put into hibernation\u00a0to reduce the amount\u00a0of food, oxygen, etc, needed for the trip. Until recently, I thought this\u00a0was no closer to reality than Hal but \u00a0it looks like it might nearly be in hand \u00a0:\u00a0Suspended Animation Human Trials About to Begin – IFLScience<\/a>.<\/p>\n It shouldn’t in fact be too surprising. Maintaining patients\u00a0in unconscious states\u00a0for days\u00a0is done routinely in hospitals.\u00a0Coma patients can be kept alive for\u00a0months, even years. Occasionally there are reports\u00a0of someone awakening from a long term coma and continuing with a normal life. So the mechanics of maintaining the vital systems appears to be\u00a0well understood.<\/p>\n The induced torpor research\u00a0is aiming to go the next step and lower body temperature to slow metabolic processes even further than in a comatose state.\u00a0As mentioned in the above article, doctors are using Therapeutic Hypothermia (TH)\u00a0already to deal with some traumatic injuries.<\/p>\n In the video below (starting at 55:30)\u00a0 from the\u00a0NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC<\/a>) Symposium held back in February (see post here<\/a>),\u00a0John Bradford of SpaceWorks Engineering<\/a> and his collaborator Douglas Talk discussed such issues in a presentation about their proposed\u00a0Torpor Inducing Transfer Habitat For Human Stasis To Mars<\/a><\/em>. Here are their\u00a0slides (pdf)<\/a> and see also this infographic (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n