Diseases in colonies

[Anonymous No.14666611]

If we don't bring any pathogens to our new colonies, the only things that can make us sick are the bacteria in our digestive tract.
What do you think this does to us? Imagine a society without STDs (obviously, only people without HPV are admitted), without common colds, the flu, or Covid. Will this have an impact on societal norms? Will people stand closer when speaking? Will people centuries in the future no longer be disgusted by snot or other people's sweat? Will sneezing be considered ok?

[Anonymous No.14666767]

>>14666611
will drinking pee finally become socially acceptable?

[Anonymous No.14666869]

>>14666611
Imagine the second a harmful bacteria is introduced, and the entire population dies off due to their bodies being unable to combat it

[Anonymous No.14668559]

>>14666611
>Imagine a society without STDs

Imagine the most decadent people you can, then cube it, and that will be what the people who have no worries about getting pregnant or of getting any diseases will be like in space colonies.

[Anonymous No.14668573]

I'd rather imagine no society

[Anonymous No.14668596]

your DNA contains large chunks of 'junk' that are probably old viral genomes that are just hitching a ride, and could probably reactivate given the right circumstances. some viruses linger in your system for your entire life like chicken pox and you can't ever get rid of them.

but let's say you, I don't know, edit out literally every bad part of your genome somehow, and completely clear out every single lingering virus in your system. You still have a huge number of foreign genomes and bacteria in your system that are necessary for your daily operation. those are constantly mutating and can become pathogenic on their own, so you're not free of that reservoir for disease either. in fact since some people will always be asymptomatic, and you have no way to detect a disease until it makes someone visibly sick, as long as there are humans then you'll always have breeding grounds for new diseases because people could just be carrying something around for years and never know about it.

but let's say you use your magic future science to, I don't know, replace every single organism in your gut that could become pathogenic with something that will never ever become pathogenic. I'll skip a step and say you wave your magic wand and get rid of all genetic diseases too, including cancers. EVEN IN THIS ENVIRONMENT you're constantly shedding skin cells and will be exposed to dirt, debris, chemicals, etc, which could all trigger an immune response. you could still get sick just by virtue of your body responding to something as if it was a disease, even though it's not. autoimmune diseases are fairly common anyway and are manageable, but you'd still have people getting sick and being allergic to shit even after you make your germ free utopia.

the immune system is super complex but I imagine there's no way to magic science your way out of allergic reactions either, at least not without weakening the immune system. those aren't contagious so maybe it wouldn't matter much though.

[Anonymous No.14669564]

>>14666767
I got you, buddy!!

[Anonymous No.14670300]

>>14666611
>obviously, only people without HPV are admitted
There are no tests for that though, especially since there are like 10 different HPV's that cause harm in humans and around 100 HPVs that are known but not studied much.

[Anonymous No.14670302]

>>14666611
>Will people stand closer when speaking?
People will stink much more, since water would be scarce and bathing very limited.
Ask someone who has been on the International Space Station what it smelled like.

[Anonymous No.14670376]

>>14670302
> water would be scarce and bathing very limited.

Three things any permanent colony in space will have in super abundance; power, water, air

Because they are so important, the colonist make having them the highest priority.

[Anonymous No.14670400]

>>14670376
>Because they are so important, the colonist make having them the highest priority.
meaning "restrictions".

Not much water on Mars or the moon. Humans are not "colonizing" any other places, and probably not even those. It's all scifi fantasy.

[Anonymous No.14670567]

>>14670400
>Not much water on Mars or the moon.

WHAT??!!
"So how much water exists today on Mars? When discussing amounts of Martian water, past and present, scientists use a term such as global equivalent layer (GEL) or similar words. This is the thickness an amount of water would have if it were spread evenly over all of Mars. Taking what can be detected directly by spacecraft, scientists estimate that the measurable total of Martian water — in other words, its hydrosphere — is about 30 meters (100 feet) GEL."

"lunar poles have over 600 billion kilograms of water ice. That’s enough to fill at least 240,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. This is a LOW-END estimate because the amount of water detected is limited by the strength of spacecraft radar. New missions with radars that penetrate deeper will likely find more water ice."

Water is in abundance on Mars and the Moon.

[Anonymous No.14670581]

>>14670400
>Not much water on Mars or the moon

Except the massive underground reservoirs

[Anonymous No.14670659]

>>14670567
good luck getting those toxic salts out of all that water on Mars

[Anonymous No.14670693]

>>14670581
>Except the massive underground reservoirs
>>14670567
Yeah sure, and there is Trillions of tons of gold on Earth, gold in every square inch of soil, but it is still a precious metal and rare, and the effort and cost of extracting it from non-ore rock and soil is inconceivable.

Just because there is an abundance, doesn't mean it is usable.

With no atmosphere on Mars or the moon, there will be no colonization larger than the Space Station. Too difficult.

Now grow the fuck up and quit your star wars and trek daydreaming.

[Anonymous No.14670730]

>>14666611
Human body carries millions of bacterias and viruses that can evolve over time

[Anonymous No.14670768]

>>14670693
>the effort and cost of extracting it from non-ore rock and soil is inconceivable

On Earth that is true, on the moon you NEED the water so even if it is 'difficult as hell' you do it.
We go there KNOWING that we need to mine water so we WILL do it, even if it requires thousands of square miles of solar fields for the energy to do it.

[Anonymous No.14670825]

>>14670659
>good luck getting those toxic salts out of all that water on Mars

Solar fields -> electrolysis -> pure water

[Anonymous No.14670913]

>>14670768
>you NEED the water so even if it is 'difficult as hell' you do it.
Nope.
An ecosystem can only support the amount of life it is capable of supporting.

[Anonymous No.14670918]

>>14670825
kek good weed?

[Anonymous No.14671200]

>>14666611
>What do you think this does to us?
It means the first Earth-Mars wars will be resolved with an air-drop of blankets with smallpox.

Sadly, if we don't constantly fight off the diseases that would subvert our immune system, it'll atrophy and we become susceptible.

.....On a related note, imagine we meet 2 alien high-tech AI or robots. One side is efficient and precise and completely fucked over by any human hacker with an ounce of knowledge. The other is impervious to malware because they fight it off constantly, but all our systems get buggy and weird whenever we meet.

[Anonymous No.14671226]

>>14670825
Or you know, distillation.

[Anonymous No.14671528]

>>14670913
>An ecosystem can only support the amount of life it is capable of supporting.

There is NO ecosystem on the moon.

We use solar fields to give the power needed to mine water and use the water in greenhouses for food and air.

[Anonymous No.14671533]

>>14670918
>kek good weed?

Martian weed is best weed

[Anonymous No.14671537]

>>14668559
>No worries about getting diseases
If people have as much sex as the gay community did when aids first showed up. STDs will inevitably show up and probably absolutely destroy the colony due to the high rates of transmission.

[Anonymous No.14671549]

>>14671537
>STDs will inevitably show up

What?
So somehow gonorrhea 'magically' appears when no one has it?
This idea is only slightly more probable than the 'virgin' birth.

[Anonymous No.14671554]

>>14671528
>There is NO ecosystem on the moon.
That's why no humans live there and won't.

[Anonymous No.14671586]

>>14671554
>>There is NO ecosystem on the moon.
>That's why no humans live there and won't.

Did your parents forget to lock the office door again and you got on the computer?
Go to bed Junior.

[Anonymous No.14671593]

>>14671549
Nature always find a way to punish roasties

[Anonymous No.14671654]

>>14671533
...I wonder if low gravity could affect weed to be more potent or weaker.
we need to send a gorilla glue to mars, it is bluish and perfect.

[Anonymous No.14671664]

>>14671654

I would not be surprised at all if the number one product traded back to Earth is Martian Musk Weed!