Extended Abstract
Author(s): Dario Furnari*
The human body has a great capacity for adaptation, even in the case of significant changes in environmental conditions; like prolonged microgravity. The force of gravity on the earth produces an acceleration of 1 g (g is the symbol that indicates the acceleration due to gravity). The term microgravity indicates a reduced force of gravity and is therefore used to describe conditions in which the force of gravity is less than that on the earth's surface (less than one g). For example, the gravity force of the moon is only 17% of that of the earth, or 0.17g. The term microgravity is often used to describe conditions in space, because the body may not always be in conditions of weightlessness, ie at 0 g.It is interesting to note that most of the physiological changes due to exposure to microgravity are very similar to those observed in athletes, after a period of inactivity or immobi.. View More»