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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		A medical diagnostic device for use in Deep Space
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:02
	Publish Date:		2016-12-11 18:00:00
	Description:		We’ve all seen astronauts floating around weightless in the space shuttle and while it seems like fun, prolonged exposure to microgravity results in bone loss and muscle atrophy. Matthew Coleman, a senior research scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory says there are other concerns, too. "You also have different levels of ionizing radiation that you’re being bombarded by in space because here on Earth, we’re protected because we have an atmosphere. But when we go beyond the atmosphere and beyond where the Space Station is now, there’s going to be much higher levels of radiation." Coleman is part of a team of researchers working on a single, handheld diagnostic device that may contain a host of biomarkers, including some for radiation sensitivity. "And so if you’re somebody that’s more sensitive to radiation exposure, you may not want to go out on too many spacewalks and you may need to limit those sorts of activities and therefore, somebody else will have to complete that mission requirement."
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