6 ms·

NASA fed some Apollo 11 lunar samples to cockroaches and mice (2019)

53 points by lelf 4y ago

gibolt 4y ago
Just sounds like some people operating under the assumption of unknown unknowns. Best to see if anything died from exposure in an enclosed environment before releasing any possible contaminants out into the wild.
- kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
  The astronauts that landed were breathing the dust in the LM. None of them died of peculiar respiratory issues.
  - cyphar 4y ago
    At the risk of implying you haven't read the article, these experiments took place while those astronauts (specifically the Apollo 11 to 14 missions) were in quarantine. They didn't know whether lunar dust could have some other adverse effect on the biosphere. They stopped doing the experiments after Apollo 14 in 1971.
InsaneOstrich 4y ago
Syonyk 4y ago
The more I learn of 1950s to 1970s NASA and related, the less over the top Cave Johnson from Portal 2 seems. And then I read books like Ignition! and realize that, at that time, parts of rocket science literally were, "What are the most energetically explosive sets of things we can mix together and actually live with?" Turns out, not that many, despite an awful lot of efforts.
- sph 4y ago
  It's really hard to admit to ourselves that modern technology, especially knowledge of the human body, sits atop ethically disturbing science, like IIRC the Nazi research in concentration camps, like prisoners being left to freeze to death, was crucial in understanding how we'd survive in high altitude and space. Or take the experiments the Japanese did on prisoners in WW2; a hard question to ask ourselves is how far ahead these moments have pushed our understanding of the world, when a more cautious approach might have taken much longer or simply not have been enough. I think that life is more important than any scientific experiment, but I wonder how limited our knowledge would be today were it not for those people and animals tortured to death. Would the space race have started decades later?
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    > I think that life is more important than any scientific experiment Science has advanced enormously due to doing unsafe experiments on humans. For example, Jonas Salk tested the polio vaccine by injecting himself. The Wrights flew their first airplane themselves. Lindbergh risked death on his first transatlantic flight. (Previous attempts had ended in death.) He was dubbed "Lucky Lindy" for good reason. Test pilots had short life expectancies. So did Formula 1 drivers up into the 1970s. We'd have a lot more deaths today if these brave people had not risked their lives. Heck, we all risk our lives by getting out of bed in the morning.
    - Stratoscope 4y ago
      When I was a kid, some of the grownups I knew had stomach ulcers. This was considered a chronic condition caused by stress. One of the few remedies was to go on a "bland diet" to avoid irritation. Nothing spicy for you! Ulcers also led to stomach cancer. In 1984, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall had a theory that ulcers were actually caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter Pylori. And they thought they might be cured by antibiotics. So Marshall drank a glass of broth full of those bacteria from an ulcer patient. He got ulcers. Bad ones. The two doctors worked out a course of antibiotics and cured Marshall's ulcers. They won a Nobel Prize for it. For any of you younger folks who have never heard of stomach ulcers or stomach cancer, now you know why. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank-infectious-broth-gave-himself-an-ulcer-and-solved-a-medical-mystery https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank... https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/when-scientists-experiment-on-themselves-h-pylori-and-ulcers/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/when-scienti...
- MengerSponge 4y ago
  Turns out Cave Johnson was more pastiche than parody
hulitu 4y ago
So that's where those big bugs came from. I saw a double size wasp some days ago and i was wondering how it got so big. That explains it.
- tabtab 4y ago
  And they moon humans.
mrtri 4y ago
mrtri 4y ago

53 points by lelf 4y ago

Just sounds like some people operating under the assumption of unknown unknowns. Best to see if anything died from exposure in an enclosed environment before releasing any possible contaminants out into the wild.

kevin_thibedeau 4y ago
The astronauts that landed were breathing the dust in the LM. None of them died of peculiar respiratory issues.
- cyphar 4y ago
  At the risk of implying you haven't read the article, these experiments took place while those astronauts (specifically the Apollo 11 to 14 missions) were in quarantine. They didn't know whether lunar dust could have some other adverse effect on the biosphere. They stopped doing the experiments after Apollo 14 in 1971.

InsaneOstrich 4y ago

Syonyk 4y ago

The more I learn of 1950s to 1970s NASA and related, the less over the top Cave Johnson from Portal 2 seems. And then I read books like Ignition! and realize that, at that time, parts of rocket science literally were, "What are the most energetically explosive sets of things we can mix together and actually live with?" Turns out, not that many, despite an awful lot of efforts.

sph 4y ago
It's really hard to admit to ourselves that modern technology, especially knowledge of the human body, sits atop ethically disturbing science, like IIRC the Nazi research in concentration camps, like prisoners being left to freeze to death, was crucial in understanding how we'd survive in high altitude and space. Or take the experiments the Japanese did on prisoners in WW2; a hard question to ask ourselves is how far ahead these moments have pushed our understanding of the world, when a more cautious approach might have taken much longer or simply not have been enough. I think that life is more important than any scientific experiment, but I wonder how limited our knowledge would be today were it not for those people and animals tortured to death. Would the space race have started decades later?
- WalterBright 4y ago
  > I think that life is more important than any scientific experiment Science has advanced enormously due to doing unsafe experiments on humans. For example, Jonas Salk tested the polio vaccine by injecting himself. The Wrights flew their first airplane themselves. Lindbergh risked death on his first transatlantic flight. (Previous attempts had ended in death.) He was dubbed "Lucky Lindy" for good reason. Test pilots had short life expectancies. So did Formula 1 drivers up into the 1970s. We'd have a lot more deaths today if these brave people had not risked their lives. Heck, we all risk our lives by getting out of bed in the morning.
  - Stratoscope 4y ago
    When I was a kid, some of the grownups I knew had stomach ulcers. This was considered a chronic condition caused by stress. One of the few remedies was to go on a "bland diet" to avoid irritation. Nothing spicy for you! Ulcers also led to stomach cancer. In 1984, Robin Warren and Barry Marshall had a theory that ulcers were actually caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter Pylori. And they thought they might be cured by antibiotics. So Marshall drank a glass of broth full of those bacteria from an ulcer patient. He got ulcers. Bad ones. The two doctors worked out a course of antibiotics and cured Marshall's ulcers. They won a Nobel Prize for it. For any of you younger folks who have never heard of stomach ulcers or stomach cancer, now you know why. https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank-infectious-broth-gave-himself-an-ulcer-and-solved-a-medical-mystery https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-doctor-who-drank... https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/when-scientists-experiment-on-themselves-h-pylori-and-ulcers/ https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/when-scienti...
MengerSponge 4y ago
Turns out Cave Johnson was more pastiche than parody

hulitu 4y ago

So that's where those big bugs came from. I saw a double size wasp some days ago and i was wondering how it got so big. That explains it.

tabtab 4y ago
And they moon humans.

mrtri 4y ago