Humans

Diver underwater during a deep-ocean dive

Four divers descended to a simulated 480 meters in helium-oxygen conditions and pressure slowed mental rotation while weakening hand-eye coordination

At a simulated depth of 480 meters, four professional divers took longer to solve visual problems, remembered fewer locations and threaded fewer buttons during a timed coordination test. Their grip strength changed far less, suggesting that extreme pressure can affect careful mental and motor work even when basic muscle force remains fairly steady. The 2015…

Swimmer in the pool raises his hands up. Water Sports Victory Concept. Arena with flashes. Mixed media

Humans Explainer

Elite swimmers cut training distance by 57 percent before a major competition, while hormones, sleep and motivation barely changed during 12 weeks and stress fell only among women

Swimmer training on the open sea / ocean

Humans Explainer

Forty-eight adolescent swimmers completed 10 sessions pairing psyching-up with cognitive challenges and sharpened attention reaction time and mood without adding physical strain

A stunning digital rendering of Earth from space, featuring a satellite and the vast universe

Humans Explainer

Across 66 astronauts and cosmonauts, a study found longer missions drew more coping humor, while self-defeating jokes rose later in a space career

Astronaut crew cooperating in an isolated habitat

Humans Explainer

NASA data from 83 astronauts and analog crewmates found that tidy, considerate behavior explained roughly 40 percentage points more of whether a crew would work together again, giving mission planners a measure of the daily habits that help isolated teams stay workable

Majestic night sky full of stars behind dark tree silhouette in a rural setting

Humans Explainer

Five women watched nine planetarium scenes three times and a 0.001-lux new moon sky gave the strongest healing scores while the blackest dome first raised stress before dark adaptation gradually eased it

Person floating during zero gravity training

Humans Explainer

Parabolic flights showed why men who could not stand routine often handled weightlessness better, as a study of 24 volunteers found boredom scores and motion sickness history helped classify poor adaptation with 93.33 percent accuracy

Two astronauts in silver space suits exploring a rocky, desert-like environment, resembling Mars

Humans Explainer

A 520-day Mars mission simulation found five times more conflict with Mission Control than inside the crew and it showed how sleep strain, stress and just two vulnerable crewmembers could dominate the social pressure of a 17-month voyage

The Mars500 isolation study kept six men inside a sealed habitat for 520 days, long enough to mimic the travel time of a classic round-trip mission to Mars. When researchers later analyzed the weekly mood reports, sleep patterns, stress ratings and conflict logs, one result stood out. The crew did argue among themselves, but the…

A vibrant green nebula in outer space with countless stars shining bright

Humans Explainer

Twenty-second views of James Webb deep-space images and star fields in a 113-person study were linked to higher awe, stronger feelings of vastness and restoration and no rise in negative emotion when the same people later rated urban scenes

Twenty seconds was enough to move the numbers. In a two-part psychology study with 113 participants, people who looked at sets of James Webb Space Telescope deep-space images and ordinary star-filled night skies reported more awe than when they looked at urban scenes with no obvious greenery or water. The rise showed up in both…

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in orbit, highlighting advanced space technology with cloud backdrop

Humans Explainer

Power rose and benevolence dipped for 12 astronauts midway through 4 to 7 month ISS missions, while perceived gaps across seven personal values tracked where crew tension was most likely to grow

Twelve astronauts who spent 4 to 7 months aboard the International Space Station showed a striking psychological pattern during flight. Scores tied to power and hedonism rose early in the mission, then eased later. Scores tied to benevolence and security moved the other way, dropping during the middle stretch before climbing again near the end…

Humans

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