Exciting times ahead for all at the MicroG Centre, here in Porto Alegre, Brazil as the final stages are neared in the development of the first Manpowered Human Centrifuge (HC) not only in Brazil, but quite probably in Latin America.

The work is the produce of our very own Albuquerque brothers – both engineers and currently completing their MSc’s under my supervision. Marcelo Albuquerque is responsible for the building of the centrifuge itself, whilst his brother Eduardo has been creating the control and monitoring system for the performance of the HC, including rpm, angular velocity/acceleration and G-force, as well as physiological variables of volunteers.

The HC will be rotate entirely by manpower in one of three ways: a volunteer in a lying down position on the centrifuge arm will pedal; a volunteer positioned on an external bicycle attached to the drive system of the HC will pedal; two volunteers will pedal simultaneously from the HC and the external bicycle.

The MicroG Centre Manpowered Human Centrifuge is designed to achieve a maximum of 5Gs (z axis) and will eventually be used to train both experienced and student pilots, demonstrating the cardiovascular and neurological signs and symptoms of Gz+ exposure, such as grey-out, black-out and G-LOC.

Completion of the main structure of the centrifuge is expected by the end of March 2012, with the final tweaking of the control system to follow soon after.  Many exciting new possibilities for future studies in space physiology, aviation medicine and aerospace biomechanics research lie in front of us, and close links between the MicroG Centre and The Centre of Human & Aerospace Physiological Sciences (CHAPS) at King’s College, London should see future MSc students from King’s also benefiting from the possibilities of new research projects.

Well done to the Albuquerque brothers and pedal hard to the finishing line!
1 Comment
 
 
Picture
Publisher InTech Jan 2011
If you have a few minutes to spare sometime and an interest in some of the things we get up to at the Microgravity Centre, (the Lab I established more than ten years ago), then click on the link below. 

You will be taken to a chapter in a new book in which we feature - Biomedical Engineering, Trends, Research & Technologies, published in January this year by InTech.

Find out more about the eHealth projects that we are involved in, including eResearch, eLearning and eHealth. 

Either read the chapter online, or better still click the download button and read it at your leisure. It's free to you, and the more people that download it, the more worthwhile all our work for the chapter will seem!   

Click HERE to go to the chapter.
Add Comment
 
 
Picture
First established by the United Nations in 1999, and an event held every year from 4-10 October, this week is a global annual celebration highlighting the contributions of space science and technology to life on planet Earth.

The theme this year is "Mysteries of the Cosmos," and activities include a Google Lunar X Prize Summit on the Isle of Man, an astronomy festival in Marrakech, Morocco, and a star camp for high school students in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The timing of the event coincides with two important dates in Space exploration - October 4th saw the launch by the Soviet Union 53 years ago of Sputnik, the world's first man-made satellite, and October 10th is the date in 1967 when the Outer Space Treaty came into effect, an agreement that formed the basis for international space law.

Last year, when the theme of World Space Week was "Space for Education," 713 events took place in 55 nations worldwide. Click on the link below to search for events that may be taking place in your country this year.
 
http://www.worldspaceweek.org/event_search.html
Add Comment
 
 
The July 2010 edition of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Medicina Aeroespacial (AIMA) news bulletin includes on page 21 mention of a series of eLectures currently being organized and given by Prof Thais Russomano at the Microgravity Centre, PUCRS, Brazil.

The eLectures cover the area of Aerospace Medicine and aim to disseminate knowledge to others with an interest in the subject, within South America where it is sometimes difficult to access information on this topic.

Anyone wishing to read the complete bulletin can do so by clicking on the link below and downloading the issue Volume 11, No 1 (2010):

http://sites.google.com/site/aima1976org/home/boletin-2

Scroll down to page 33 and you will also find mention of Thais' book ‘A Gravidade – Esta Grande Escultora’, written together with Joan Vernikos PhD.
Picture
Add Comment
 
 
Picture
It was a marvelous surprise this week to receive an email from my editors EDIPUCRS to say that the book 'A Gravidade Esta Grande Escultora' had been selected for consideration for this years Jabuti Premios 2010 in the category Natural Sciences & Health Sciences. This prestigious award, sponsored by the Brazilian Chamber of Books, has been running since 1958 and is possibly the most well known and important literary prize in Brazil.

Written together with Dr Joan Vernikos, former Director of Nasa's Life Sciences division,  the book shows how adopting a lifestyle that optimizes the use of gravity as an ally, can help reverse or slow down the changes that come with the so-called aging process. By looking at the results of space research, we can gain a better understanding  of the effects of Earth's gravity on our human physiology and use this in a common sense way to help improve the quality of our lives.

Results of the selection process should be announced in August and October this year, so fingers crossed!
 
1 Comment
 
 
Picture
Yesterday saw the launch of the new UK Space Agency to replace the existing British National Space Centre (BNSC), hoping to promote and boost the UK's multi-billion pound Space industry.

It is currently estimated that around 68,000 people are employed either directly or indirectly in the industry, with an annual input of around 6 billion pounds into the UK economy.

It certainly seems like a step in the right direction and good publicity for the UK Space industry. And hopefully it will help galvanise the industry and manufacturing side in areas such as satellites and telecommunications, at which the UK is among the best. Sadly though the area of Space exploration and manned Space flight seems to be taking a back seat.

From an educational aspect and speaking from many years of personal experience, I know how much the subject of astronauts, the moon and travelling in Space can grip children's imaginations and curiosity. I myself would probably have ended up as a lawyer (as is my family tradition) had I not been inspired at a young age by the stars, astronomy and the TV series 'Lost in Space'!

However, arousing the interest of young people is one thing . . . . . . . converting that curiosity into future generations of scientists and researchers is a completely different problem altogether. Unless money is spent to provide good science education and facilities, and to invest money in community based activities that continue to promote science as a part of everyday life, then all is lost.   
Add Comment