Journal 3, September 10

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17770-mighty-mouse-takes-off--thanks-to-magnets.html

This article is about scientists studying the effects of zero gravity on mice to see what effects extended exposure to zero gravity could have on astronauts. The scientists use a super powerful magnet to levitate a mouse, which works because the magnetic field is so strong it distorts the movement of electrons in water molecules, creating an opposing magnetic field which causes the mouse to float. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that we have technology like this. I suppose when scientists have the ability to cool things to just a few degrees above absolute zero, as in this experiment, and making superconducting magnets some pretty crazy things can happen. It seems like they were skeptical of the magnet's ability to levitate a mouse, even though it had been done with strawberries and frogs before, but it obviously worked very well, for hours at a time. I had no idea magnetic fields could even do anything close to make living beings levitate and float around, but technology has come a long way.

If the magnets have any health effects on the mice, though, it would be difficult to distinguish between those effects and the effects of zero gravity, which is the intended purpose of this, not just to make mice float around their cages. The article says that rats exposed to a magnetic field just over half the strength of this one suffered no ill effects, however, so this could be very useful in understanding what happens to astronauts when they stay in space for long periods of time. It even says that the mice got used to zero gravity pretty quickly, spending hours floating around, even eating and drinking, after the initial terror of floating off the ground without expecting to do so. Understanding the changes that happen in astronauts bodies in space could help us to prevent unwanted health effects, and possibly explore more of space than we have been able to before. There are obviously still a large number of factors that do not allow us to do that, such as astronauts needing food for the entire trip, and obviously not being able to resupply until they return. This is a step in the right direction, though, space is a vast frontier that we have explored very little of, and there are an infinite number of possibilities as to what could be out there.