The International Space Station (|SS) has low microbial diversity, which could lead to astronaut health issues, according to a study published in Cell.

Researchers found that the microbial communities resemble those found in sanitized environments like hospitals rather than natural settings.

Co-senior study author Pieter Dorrestein explains that increasing microbial exposure could improve astronaut health during long-term space travel.

The study suggests incorporating natural elements, like soil, into the ISS to enhance microbial diversity and astronaut well-being.

The study in question:

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00108-4

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

We're not mining the asteroid belt because the cost of getting stuff in and out of space isn't worth it. I don't think that's going to change for a long time. But I actually agree that there's a lot of signs that space and low grav might just be bad for humans long term, period.

[–] surph_ninja 3 points 2 days ago

By mining the asteroid belt, we’d never need to put anything in space again (except humans and their food). No more limitations on ship sizes based on what we can afford to launch.