Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Founder, CEO & Scientific Director The ancient practice of yoga has its roots deep in the ancestral traditions of India. The word comes from the Sanskrit word yuj, which has countless meanings, such as controlling, uniting, concentrating, or integrating. Yoga is seen as a way of harmonising the body and mind, through meditation, breathing techniques and postural exercises.  Despite its influence on various cultures over time, and it being practiced on a daily basis all over the world, I have to confess that I knew very little about this centuries-old practice, that is, until I was invited by Guerilla Science to take part in their Space Yoga class at the Brighton Yoga Festival, held on the weekend of 14th-15th July this year, at the Sussex County Cricket Ground in Brighton & Hove, neighbouring towns on the English south coast. Rather luckily, my invite did not involve me personally having to perform breathing exercises or adopt certain body positions, as my hosts may have been a little disappointed! It was, however, to talk about the changes undergone by astronauts when they spend time in microgravity, as yoga therapy has been contemplated and researched as a possible complementary activity that could benefit astronaut health and emotional wellbeing, as discussed in a 2012 article published by Joan Vernikos et al*. and a 2013 interview, hosted on the YouTube channel YogiViews.
Thais RussomanoInnovaSpace Founder, CEO & Scientific Director The importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) education has long been talked about, with education policy and curriculum choices targeting these areas to improve competitiveness in science and technology development, and to try and address the shortage of skills in the workforce. While these subjects are extremely relevant in today's world, they do not underpin the innovative process in isolation, often requiring a streak of creativity and imagination to set an idea free. History demonstrates well the productive link between the STEM areas and Art, with Leonardo da Vinci being a classic example - both a great scientist and astounding artist. The practice of art in its numerous senses, such as, language, physical art, music and design, among many others, can provide imaginative opportunities for communication and expression and inspire the young to be creative with their ideas. Blending art into the STEM areas can also provide a conduit by which to attract the interest of those who might not normally consider the sciences. Although a scientist and doctor myself, I have always been drawn to the arts and am equally as happy writing an article on space physiology as I am writing a romance novel. So when I was contacted by a gentleman from a theatre group wanting to know if I could share a little space knowledge with them, I was delighted to say yes!  The FLUX Phase theatre group brings together a diverse group of actors in training, currently completing an MA in Acting at the E15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex. Their latest production is based on Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, which states that as you travel close to the speed of light, time passes more slowly. So imagine if one identical twin makes a journey into space on a near light-speed spaceship, leaving the other twin at home on Earth, and then returns from 30 years space travel. Will the twin who stayed home have aged more? Will one look much older than the other? This is the Twin Paradox!
Roberto D. FanganielloInnovaSpace Scientific & Strategic Consultant It is with immense pleasure that I helped to catalyze the partnership between InnovaSpace and R-Crio, announced last week. I have been assisting both companies ever since they started operating : R-Crio back in 2014 and InnovaSpace since its incorporation in the United Kingdom, in September, 2017.  InnovaSpace CEO Thais Russomano (middle), R-Crio President José Ricardo Muniz Ferreira (right) & myself in London, UK R-Crio is a cell technology company headquartered in Campinas, Brazil, whose main service is the processing and storage of adult stromal cells isolated from the pulp of baby teeth. R-Crio also functions as an accelerator of projects, programs and nascent companies, with the final goal of delivering the promise of regenerative medicine and cell-based tissue bioengineering to society, safely and efficiently. A plenitude of these incubated initiatives are educational and this is where I see substantial synergy between R-Crio and InnovaSpace. It is where I also believe that this partnership can benefit both companies the most. InnovaSpace has a very solid educational basis, which was achieved by a commitment of our team, diligently and wisely orchestrated by Thais Russomano, to think creatively and innovatively about the shape and the focus of each project, to always appoint the best people we can and set clear priorities for each different program and to delineate activities where human potential can be fully realized. At InnovaSpace, with each and every educational enterprise, we are committed to the advancement of a broad education based on critical thinking, instead of a narrowly-focused technical training. We are not dedicated to teaching people what to think, but how to think, and to instil people with the capacity to make fruitful use of information. At the very core of each new project is the understanding that the best way to surpass the constrainment of opportunities due to race, gender, religion, economic background and geographic location is by the development of freedom to think clearly and independently, and to equip oneself for the ample array of challenges we face in life.  In a broader sense, InnovaSpace and R-Crio also have a lot in common. Both companies have the hallmark features of genuine leaders, of drawing the best out of each project and of inspiring each team to pursue meaningful goals. Both have worked extremely hard and have persevered and thrived in the face of many adversities. And both have stretched way beyond their comfort zones. Nearly everyone has heard the proverb that says “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. I am certain this partnership will benefit both companies and, as they start to “go together” and continue to grow, they will have more latitude to go as far as their boldest aspirations.
Adriana Bos-MikichDepartment of Morphological Sciences, ICBS, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil The growing global interest in space programs, including space colonization strategies, will necessarily have to consider the reproductive process in outer space. Humans procreate through sexual reproduction, a near ubiquitous feature of living organisms on Earth. Furthermore, sexual reproduction is the fundamental strategy through which living organisms colonize new environments, as proven by Darwin´s theory of evolution. Successful colonization in a new niche represents the selection of adaptation-advantageous traits in well-adapted individuals and the elimination of those that do not express these advantageous characteristics. The individual advantageous/non-advantageous variability is achieved by new genetic combinations that occur during the formation of sex cells, a process called meiosis, which is unique and essential to sexual reproduction. In addition, the interaction between male and female gametes, leading to fertilisation and the creation of a new human being, is a critical feature of human reproduction. Male and female sex cells must join together to form a new individual, the zygote, however, living circumstances in outer space may not provide favourable conditions for male and female gametes to join together naturally. In addition, the highly developed physiological mechanisms involved in human sexual reproduction may not be as effective when subject to a new environment, such as would be experienced if humans colonised another planet. Moreover, the effects of the high levels of radiation observed in space and microgravity on mammalian reproduction are largely unknown. In view of these difficulties and uncertainties, it is quite likely the use of assisted reproduction technologies, known as fertility treatment, will need to be considered for this fundamental issue of future lives spent in space stations or other planetary habitats.
#HumanFertility #FertilityInMicorgravity #AssistedConception Prof. Marlise A dos Santos, PhDInnovaSpace Advisory Board member, and Coordinator MicroG-PUCRS  Finding myself in Lisbon, Portugal one chilly February afternoon this year, and as a pharmacist, I was very interested to discover the presence of a Museum of Pharmacy (www.museudafarmacia.pt/) in the city. My husband Arno and I decided to pay it a visit and very much appreciated the history it presented of the evolution of pharmacological therapy, from antiquity to the present, through the use of medicinal plants and drugs from around the world, and especially from Portugal. But even more of a wonderful and unexpected surprise at the end of our visit was the finding of a space pharmacy. As previously mentioned, I am a pharmacist by profession, however and quite unusually, space pharmacy has been one of the most important areas of my professional practice, a specialism in which I have conducted much research and presented the results of studies in scientific congresses around the world. Space Pharmacy is one of those areas that remains with many mysteries and is little studied, either during space missions or land simulations. Whenever medications are prescribed for use in space, it is done so respecting the same dosage and interval of administration that would be used for terrestrial medicine. There are, however, a number of doubts as to how appropriate this might be, with many questions still left unanswered. Are there any differences in the absorption rate of drugs in an environment where the gravitational force is either reduced or even absent? How is the drug metabolism affected in microgravity? Are there changes in the drug excretion? Much more research is still needed to clarify these doubts and to ensure the best health outcomes for astronauts in space. It was, however, wonderful to see that space pharmacy was being considered in this treasure of a museum, and the surprises did not stop there. Integrated into the museum nearby is a restaurant called Pharmacia with a quirky menu, where dishes and drinks creatively continue the pharmacy theme, such as cocktails named after medications and potions, walls decorated with pharmaceutical motifs, waiters wearing white lab coats, and the final bill presented to the customer inside a laboratory examination bottle. Should you also find yourself in Lisbon one day with a couple of hours to spare, I would certainly recommend the museum and restaurant, just one of the many wonderful experiences of the city of Lisbon.
In this Vlog, Dr Lucas Rehnberg, InnovaSpace SGen Hub Coordinator talks about his experience working at the Mission Support Centre in Innsbruck, Austria, providing remote assistance and monitoring to the analog astronauts and crew of the AMADEE18 Mars simulation mission, based in the Dhofar desert in Oman.
Blog written by Prof. Dr. Thais Russomano, InnovaSpace Co-Founder & CEO
Telemedicine is a rapidly emerging and growing area of health assistance, research, and education that uses information and communications technologies to provide remote assistance to communities that currently lack specialist healthcare, or access to any form of medical assistance. Imagine living hundreds of miles from specialist doctors, such as cardiologists, dermatologists, and radiologists, to name but a few. This very situation occurs in many thousands of places all over the world; it is a huge problem that can impact very negatively on people's lives. In such circumstances, telemedicine is a potentially powerful tool that can not only improve the quality of healthcare, but also help in reducing the costs of healthcare delivery. While travelling in India at the end of 2017 and visiting the Apollo Hospital in Chennai, I came across a classic example of a place where telemedicine fits in perfectly - an extremely remote area high in the Himalayas.
At an altitude of around 13,500 feet sits the world's highest altitude Telemedicine Centre, implemented by Apollo Telehealth Services. This outstanding telemedicine program was established by Apollo under the directorship of Dr. K Ganapathy (President, Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation; Director of Apollo Telehealth Services; and InnovaSpace Advisory Board member), and aims to make quality healthcare accessible to the unreached populations of the towns of Keylong and Kaza, both in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh, and with a total population of around seven thousand people.
The main health services provided are the delivery of medical assistance in emergencies, and primary and specialist tele-consultations. As of the 14th December 2017, a total of 9,389 consultations between the two remote towns and the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai had taken place (666 emergencies; 8723 outpatient consults). One such emergency involved local farmer Ram Singh who began to feel short of breath one day while out tending his cows. Fortunately for him he was able to attend the Apollo Telehealth service in Keylong and was treated remotely by a cardiac specialist in Chennai. Thankfully Mr Singh survived his heart attack and is able to tell his story in the above video, which makes him a classic example of how telemedicine can save lives!
 Blog written by Anna E. Schmaus-Klughammer, Director, Klughammer GmbH Mongolia is a huge country, being four times bigger than Germany, with nomadic cattle ranchers (herders) making up a large part of the Mongolian rural population. Due to the vast distances between cities, these populations living and working in the remote desolate regions of the country have very limited access to specialist doctors and hospitals, and the rural-based doctors work in isolation and are often left to make their own decisions in difficult cases. Although a hospital is located in each of the 21 provinces (Aimags) of Mongolia, each Aimag is three to four times the size of Switzerland, meaning that, in general, a journey of several hundred kilometres is required to reach it. Mongolia's desolate landscape and vast open spaces
Upon arrival at a hospital, the facilities encountered are fairly limited and the health care professionals often inexperienced, as it is state policy to send young doctors to the provinces. This situation can leave the medical professionals handicapped when faced with complex cases; with no specialist doctors to consult, patients are frequently referred on to hospitals in the major cities. This in itself is a problematic and costly procedure due to the great distances involved, let alone the additional difficulties faced when travelling whilst sick. As an example, the city of Ölgii, which is the major city of the Bayan-Ölgii Aimag in the extreme west of Mongolia, is 1636 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city. Logistically, therefore, a journey between these two cities will take 3-4 days and will frequently involve travelling on overcrowded buses driven on unpaved roads. Camels, yaks and the herders live in desolate regions
Blog written by Dr. Lucas Rehnberg, InnovaSpace SGen Hub Coordinator  In the build up to the AMADEE-18 mission in Oman in February 2018, the Austrian Space Forum is in the thick of preparation with the leadership team and the analogue astronauts (AA) undergoing intensive training. But not only this, the Austrian Space Forum, with all the excitement surrounding AMADEE-18, organised an additional weekend of training for the volunteers that are so eager to take part; this came in the form of Analog Mission Basic Training (AMBT) for AMADEE-18. I myself got caught up in this and am honoured to have taken part in this training to join fellow Mars pioneers and space enthusiasts on this endeavour to help pave the way for a future mission to Mars.  Innsbruck surrounded by the Alps The training weekend recently took place in the beautiful city of Innsbruck, Austria, just before the opening of the Christmas markets. In this quiet city surrounded by the Alps, an international group of young scientists with a shared passion for space gathered for training. What struck me immediately was the range of nations and backgrounds of all the volunteers that were involved. There were undergraduate science students, psychologists, IT experts, doctors and space engineers, to name a few. And these individuals came from across Europe and even as far as Oman to be a part of this mission. True to its mission goals, the Austrian Space Forum, with projects like AMADEE-18, is providing outreach and opportunities for young professionals and students to engage in space life sciences by providing hands on experience. The gathering of this group of volunteers shows how space has this universal appeal, able to be cross-generations and truly be multi-disciplinary.
Lead by its President, Dr. Gernot Grömer, and the leadership team, we began our training in earnest. This training had been a fairly new innovation of the Austrian Space Forum, born from years of experience of conducting these analogue missions. With technology and software evolving so rapidly, it is easy to see how between missions individuals would need to re-validate or completely learn new skills and familiarise themselves with the latest changes in order to run a safe and efficient analogue mission. To this end, this training was developed in order to set a new standard of training for the volunteers and participants in these analogue missions.  The beginning of September saw InnovaSpace Scientific Director Thais Russomano take part in a scientific meeting and workshop event at Moltrasio, in the beautiful Lake Como region of Italy. The occasion had representatives from 12 different countries, including InnovaSpace Advisory Board member Marlise A dos Santos, the current Coordinator of the MicroG research centre, PUCRS. The event, called Bellagio II, followed on from a previous and similar initiative that happened in Bellagio in 2004, and related to the application of space medicine knowledge and technology on terrestrial medicine, health sciences, human performance and longevity. The ultimate goals were to identify space medicine findings and countermeasures with the highest probability of having future terrestrial application and to develop a roadmap for the translation of these prioritised measures to future health research and intervention development here on Earth. The invitation-only meeting covered a series of presentations on the latest and most important areas of space life sciences, such as the medical and legal issues of space missions, space travel and genetics, space radiation and pharmacy, nutrition and food systems for health and wellness, physiological fitness and exercise countermeasures, behavioural sciences in space, space physiology and medical emergencies during space missions. Thais and Marlise contributed with presentations in the areas of space pharmacy, astrobiology, space physiology and management of medical emergencies in microgravity and hypogravity environments.  NASA astronauts Ellen Baker and Michael Barratt joined in via Skype Two NASA astronauts Skyped in from the US during the meeting, and Thais had the opportunity to question them on their views about the best example of technological transfer from Space to Earth. Astronaut Ellen Baker (MD) believes the knowledge gained from experiencing the circadian rhythm alterations that occur on a daily basis during a space mission to be the most interesting contribution to terrestrial medicine, with the International Space Station completing a full orbit of the Earth every 90 min at a speed of 27,000 km/h, which means the astronauts onboard see a sunrise or sunset every 45 min. Astronaut Michael Barratt (MD) considers the knowledge gained regarding human physiology alterations that occur in Space to be the most important example of knowledge transfer from Space to Earth, as it is very difficult to properly simulate through ground-based studies the effect that the removal of gravity has on our physiology.
Interestingly, the main goals of the Bellagio II meeting are in harmony with one of the areas that InnovaSpace is currently establishing, namely, the transfer of extraterrestrial technology to terrestrial applications. InnovaSpace Advisory Board member, Gustavo Dalmarco, who is an expert in technological transfer and innovation, will coordinate this new initiative, which will come under the umbrella of the InnovaSpace Space2Earth Hub. |
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