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So, ignoring the ethical issues, would there actually be some benefit to space travel if, say over the next couple millennia, there was a deliberate gradual inc

by ch 10y ago

So, ignoring the ethical issues, would there actually be some benefit to space travel if, say over the next couple millennia, there was a deliberate gradual increasing of the background radiation levels on earth? Would that lead to human adaptations that could survive in more radiation hostile environments?

corecoder 10y ago
Adaptations in a couple millennia? I doubt it. I don't think there's much a living being can do to become more resistant to radiations; the most effective trick seems to be being small.
- ceejayoz 10y ago
  > Adaptations in a couple millennia? I doubt it. Look what we've managed with dogs in just a couple millennia.
  - nolok 10y ago
    Selective breeding is not adaptation. He's talking evolution, you're talking eugenics.
jostmey 10y ago
Over a couple of millennia? All you will do is end up selecting for fitness among the existing gene pool. No new genes will be created. Evolution is a slow process, and it will take far longer than a few millennia for new, innovative genes to emerge that provide resistance to radiation.
toomuchtodo 10y ago
Much better to discover genes that confer hardiness to cosmic radiation, and modify the genomes of space travelers with CRISPR. Evolution is too slow. We must speed it up.
kevinwang 10y ago
Isn't that just eugenics?