I signed up this week to be a guinea pig. I'm not
going to be running on a wheel or having makeup applied
to me. PETA will not come to my rescue. I am participating
in a Vitamin D Study that is being run by our Medical
Department in conjunction with the Nutritional Biochemistry
Department at NASA. It seems they want to test how a lack
of sunshine affects how much Vitamin D is in your blood.
I also have to keep track of what supplements I take. I
can choose if I want to take Vitamin D supplements as well
or I can be part of a control group that doesn't take any
Vitamin D. Besides sunshine (soon we won't have any), other
sources of vitamin D are fortified milk and fish. I
have to keep a log and note if I have any of these in my
diet. I also need to tell them if I've eaten eggs or
corn flakes for some reason. All of this is supposed to
help the US Space Program know how astronauts and people going
to the Moon or Mars cope with a lack of sunshine. It's odd
to know that determining whether I eat cornflakes or not will
make or break any future colonies on Mars. However, for the
chance to break routine, get a cool sticker, pin and pencil and
help NASA, it seems worth it to have my blood taken three times
this winter.
1 comment:
All you get is a cool sticker, pin, and pencil? Sheesh--it doesn't seem like enough. We went to a movie today in GJ at the 14-plex near Mesa Mall. It is so huge that it's strange. Anyway, the film was great--Amazing Grace. There were 20 people at the matinee and half of them applauded at the end. From what I've read, it isn't medically practicable for people to travel as far as Mars, but maybe your guinea pigdom will make a difference.
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