Houston, We Have A Problem When It Comes To Baby-Makin' In Space
It turns out sperm suddenly needs a map when they have to deal with reduced gravity.
There's a lot of talk about the prospect of humanity branching out and taking up residence on Mars or on the moon, but, if we want that to be sustainable, people are going to have to do what scientists refer to as "space baby-makin'."
But, Houston, we have a problem.
Some researchers at Adelaide University decided to take a look at something that anyone who understands the basics of human reproduction might be wondering: what the hell happens if you put sperm in a zero-gravity environment?
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I wasn't really sure how you'd test this (aside from the obvious), but that's why they're the researchers, and I'm the guy who cracks wise while telling you about their research.
They took sperm samples from humans, mice, and pigs and put them in a machine designed to simulate zero-gravity. From there, the sperm were tasked with navigating a maze, which, I think, we could all probably have guessed, was meant to mimic the female reproductive tract.
It turns out that in zero gravity, the lil swimmers suddenly found themselves directionally challenged.
Human reproduction in space may be a little trickier than we may have thought. (Getty Images)
"This is the first time we have been able to show that gravity is an important factor in sperm's ability to navigate through a channel like the reproductive tract," researcher Dr. Nicole McPherson said, per Daily Mail.
"We observed a significant reduction in the number of sperm that were able to successfully find their way through the chamber maze in microgravity conditions compared to normal gravity."
In fact, they found a 30% reduction in success, and that prolonged exposure to the zero-G conditions was detrimental in several ways.
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"These insights show how complex reproductive success in space is and the critical need for more research across all early stages of development," Dr. McPherson said.
So, it seems like there's quite a bit of work and research to be done on this front.
Fortunately, I think Elon Musk will be more than happy to help out.