Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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AntennaGuy United States of America
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Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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Post by AntennaGuy »


Selenium-modified melanin: Selenomelanin:
Super space sunblock made from skin pigment could shield astronauts from radiation
See https://www.foxnews.com/science/super-s ... -radiation
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Re: Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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Post by Shabadoo »


Metal Selenium...What could possibly go wrong?
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Re: Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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Post by notFritzArgelander »


Shabadoo wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:05 pm Metal Selenium...What could possibly go wrong?
Nothing much except for....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium#Toxicity
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Re: Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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Post by AntennaGuy »


Shabadoo wrote: Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:05 pm Metal Selenium...What could possibly go wrong?
It's as a compound, not the pure element, and its chemical activity would need to be evaluated from that perspective. E.g., sodium or chlorine alone would be very dangerous to put in your body, while sodium chloride (table salt), is not quite so terrible. On the other hand, hydrogen cyanide (very deadly) is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen, which are plentiful in our bodies. It's all about the chemistry of the actual molecules, not of the elements by themselves.
https://cen.acs.org/materials/biomateri ... ent/98/i27
Last edited by AntennaGuy on Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:53 pm, edited 3 times in total.
* Meade 323 refractor on a manual equatorial mount.
* Celestron C6 SCT on a Twilight 1 Alt-Az mount
Prof. Barnhardt to Klaatu in The Day the Earth Stood Still: "There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.”
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Re: Modifying human skin pigment to protect from radiation

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Post by helicon »


I'm afraid that radiation exposure is going to be the bugaboo for human space exploration until we can come up with ways to shield astronauts from it either onboard the ship, in space, or on the surface of planets with rather thin atmospheres. (Mars comes to mind). Hopefully we can before it impacts the upcoming manned mission to Mars.
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