Us humans, on the other hand, find ourselves stuck all-too-consciously contemplating the frozen months ahead. In winter, everything feels twice as hard: getting dressed, shoveling snow, averting existential meltdown. Wouldn’t it be nice to ring in the new year, promptly tunnel down some dark burrow, and curl up to wait for better days?
Throughout the rest of the animal kingdom, from bears to bats to tortoises, extended periods of sluggishness are common. Not all are hibernators in the purest sense; in fact, some biologists, with a state of temporary inactivity called “torpor” at one end. What's more, only one species in our own lineage — a diminutive primate called theisn’t even a modern idea — Hippocrates, a Greek physician known as the father of medicine, recommended in the 5th century B.C.E.
This is only a temporary kind of torpor. It’s less clear how we could safely hibernate for weeks, months or years on end. But a viable solution would go a long way toward unlocking the final frontier — deep-space exploration. NASA's proposed endeavor comes with plenty of medical concerns, mostly revolving around our body’s stubborn attachment to a narrow temperature range — a few degrees off either direction and we find ourselves on the brink of disaster. Humans lack the adaptations that allow hibernators to lower their temperature without risk.
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