News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight.

Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by xkcd-sucks on Monday March 18, 2019 @02:42PM (#19423857)
Space is cool, but I didn't see any gravity related controls nor any other space specific controls.

Consider that the relationship between stress (HPA axis, etc.) and viral activation is pretty well known. Models of chronic rodent stress include constant loud noise, uncomfortable environmental scale (open spaces versus "comfortable" places with places to hide/nest), weird lighting and temperature, "violent" (freaking them out, not hurting them) handling, etc. These rodent models seem pretty similar to "put humans in a cramped little box, shake them around and mess with their sleep and eating schedules".

There's nothing novel and space specific here except for "going to space is stressful" and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by nabla9 on Monday March 18, 2019 @04:01PM (#19424629)
I would humbly suggest submarine crews as control group.

Canned air, tight space, weird sleep cycles, noise and artificial light. Submarine crews are even more isolated because they can't contact families while underway.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by w-ll on Monday March 18, 2019 @08:25PM (#19426821)
Or even saturation divers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturation_diving
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by freeflight on Monday March 18, 2019 @09:10PM (#19427144)
I'd imagine this whole "being strapped to a ton of explosives and using them to fly" moment is a tad bit more extreme and stressful than a submarine dive.

After that, they both have similar constant stress factors, but imho the launch alone is probably way more than what anybody on a submarine would go through.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by bojo on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @02:09AM (#19428471)
The crew quarters are literally between the missile launch tubes, which sure they aren’t exploding under you, but still.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by zeckalpha on Monday March 18, 2019 @10:14PM (#19427497)
Nuclear submarines?
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by craftyguy on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @10:55AM (#19431352)
I suspect that far more rockets have undergone rapid, unplanned disassembly than nuclear submarines. And when they do, the death rate is very high.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by taneq on Monday March 18, 2019 @08:44PM (#19426961)
Also airline crews? They get to do their high-pressure job in lower-than-normal air pressure, they get shaken around in a tin can and their sleep schedules are shot to hell.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by steve1977 on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:06AM (#19428692)
But they can at least leave their cabins every couple of hours for a a couple of hours or days.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by SubiculumCode on Monday March 18, 2019 @09:14PM (#19427172)
I mean you are right, but in the articles I read, their hypothesis is exactly about stress.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Herpes Virus Reactivation in Astronauts During Spaceflight by potiuper on Monday March 18, 2019 @02:53PM (#19423955)
FTAA - "Larger quantities and increased frequencies for these viruses were found during spaceflight as compared to before or after flight samples and their matched healthy controls." Further details such as graphs, p values, and references are also provided.
[ Parent | on HN ]