How would the human body develop under a different gravity?

Question

What would be the effects of high or low gravity on human body development? How would the human body develop under a different gravity? Many science fiction stories explore the idea that people from low gravity environments would be taller and slimmer, whereas people from higher gravity environments would be shorter and stockier. How realistic is this? How malleable is the human body? I figure that high gravity would lead to a lot of muscle and low gravity to a lot less, but Would the human skeleton really develop to be shorter in a child which weighed more since its birth, or taller in a child who weighed less? I'm interested in the range of 2 to 0 G's.

I'm asking for morphological changes on the human body that are the result of being born and raised in a different gravity. I'm not interested in evolutionary changes as a result of selection over time in that environment.

Answer 1

We actually have very little information on this question. I'm assuming from your "not interested in evolution" phrasing that you're interested in a 1 generation case, where a baby is born in low gravity and stays there. NASA is very interested in questions like this, because it helps them deal with the physiological effects of space on astronauts.

The answer is really complicated because the human body grows in response to stimuli. However, not all stimuli are gravity related. Some of our spinal growth after birth is due to gravity. However, bed-ridden children still grow to reasonably normal heights, so there are clearly many other factors wedged against each other to support spinal growth. (This would change if you opened the question to evolutionary effects, but in 1 generation, its a bit simpler).

The real issue for human growth in space is the few cases where we need gravity to develop. It is known that our hearts atrophy in space because they don't need to pump as much blood. It is not yet known if, in that atrophied state, it is strong enough to raise a healthy child. For all we know their immune system could be stunted because it didn't get enough oxygen! These unknowns are why we don't allow anyone but fully fit, grown adults into space. Our society believes it is not worth the risk.

If you want humans to be taller due to low gravity, I would look at what could cause a human to want to be taller. Look at gymnasts and contortionists. I guarantee nothing they do was ever "planned" for by genetics. They simply want to be more flexible, so they put their body into situations where it can grow into a more flexible shape. If there were strong advantages of being tall (such as reaching fruit of local fauna which grows tall and slender due to gravity), I think you would find remarkable effects, especially in the 1-3 year old region of a child's life. That would go doubly so with a few generations of social evolution, to build a family structure that raises children to want to be tall from a young age.

Answer 2

Sheesh, he's not interested in a multigenerational evolutionary hypothetical here.

Doesn't anyone read?

Likely humans born in high gravity would develop stronger hearts, lungs, and musculature. Bones would likely be thicker as well, if not caused by developing in high G then from healing from constant breakage. (Falling would be very dangerous on a high G planet) Children would learn to walk slower and may be significantly shorter, no one would ride bicycles, and planes and off planet trips would be very expensive fuel wise.

Low G humans would likely lose the ability to survive in a normal G environment due to atrophy or, in children born on the planet, lack of development but it's doubtful that they would be rendered unable to survive in their own environment. Children would all ride unicycles but would be very jealous of the off-worlders who could fly pedalcopters. Depending on the lack of gravity low cost compressed air jetpacks may be available and people would not need to worry about falling from (again depending on the gravity) almost any height. Expect to see people safely disembarking from air transportation without needing it to land.

Answer 3

(this is my own theory related to a story line I'm working on, very unsure on it's validity, but it involves multiple generations during a prolonged space flight in a zero g environment...was actually going to post it to this forum eventually for input). I'm also working on the assumption that critical functions such as respiratory, circulatory, and digestion can continue to function in different gravities.

Assumptions...not only is it zero-g, but we are lacking sun exposure as well. Air pressure is earth like in the zero-g environment.

The human body will lengthen significantly if raised entirely in a zero g environment. Limbs will become longer, including the neck. Bone density will be significantly less and it's quite likely this being will weigh significantly less than a Human raised on Earth. Bone structure (although elongated) won't change in a single generation...however multiple generations in zero-g may start to see their bones loose rigidity, become flexible structures instead. Several generations later may result in a elongated semi-eel like being that can quickly bend around curves and corners of the ship/structure it resides in.

Hands could have an interesting change. Where a human on Earth needs to grip and pick-up things against the weight of gravity, and zero-g human would not...rather they would be spending most of their time on 'button' like interfaces. Gives me this image of elongated fingers exceedingly adept at a 'key press' up and down motion instead of a bulky hand designed to lift against the weight of gravity. Precision in a zero-g human would become more required than strength (precision often being sacrificed in favor of raw strength) and the hand will reflect that.

Muscle structure would also develop significantly differently. Where our strongest muscles (Glutes) tend to be focused on keeping us upright, a space child wouldn't have that same need to develop the ability to stand. Nor would walking muscles (Quads) have the pressure on them to grow to the strength a human on Earth's would. Pushing off would be the preferred locomotion of a zero-g human, perhaps giving them larger calf muscles in relation to their other muscles (yet still not as developed as one that needs to fight gravity on a constant basis.

Skin colour would also be significantly different as the pigments that protect us from the sun wouldn't be required. Don't ask why, but I have the image of eventually greying skin, especially over multiple generations.

We may develop a new 'sense' or a variation on one that we already have but don't much consider. Orienting yourself on Earth is a 2-d exercise for the most case...up and down are in relation to gravity and is easier to enforce. As divers and deep sea swimmers know, up and down isn't quite as simple to detect without this obvious gravitational pull. How exactly a zero-g human would learn to orient itself and perceive it's 3-d location could be considered a 'new sense' to some degree.

All of this is purely speculation as we really have no idea what a zero-g human would look like.

Answer 4

Consider a 200 pound man, here on Earth. If he were to set foot on a planet X with 2X the gravity, he would weigh 400 pounds. Consider the endurance, momentum and other physical factors on this man, having to lug around 400 pounds! Conversely, if he were to step on a planet Y with 1/2 the gravity, he would weigh 100 pounds. For life to form on either of those two planets, further evolving into some sort of intelligent life form, it is likely the reverse of many of the comments would need to be true. Additionally, we need to stop thinking of those alien life forms as humans or on human terms. On planet X, this individual may very well need to be smaller and lighter than humans, yet with a greater ratio to muscle mass. On planet Y, far less muscle mass would be needed and this individual would likely be much taller, as gravitational forces would not place as much strain on his or her skeletal structure. This may answer some of the basic physical characteristics, with regards to overall size, but a plethora of other factors would need to be considered.

What is the atmosphere like on the planet? This will affect how they breathe or even derive energy.

What chemicals make up that atmosphere? Heavy oxygen? Heavy CO2? Limited nitrogen? All these can contribute to what types of early life forms are given the extra advantage to develop further.

How bright is the midday sky? This will affect their vision and the shape and size of their eyes.

How long are the days? This can have a great affect on their routines and adaptations to such cyclical internal mechanisms. Consider humans an melatonin, the enzyme responsible for our sleep cycles, as just one example.

How long is the year? This may or may not be as relevant, based on the inclination of the planet. But if seasons are pertinent to agriculture, this could have a positive or negative effect, as we know it. As a result, the greater the variance, the greater the adaptivity, in the evolution of the alien species.

How hot or cold are the average temperatures? This would result in more or less average body fats, amount of hair or some sort of protective dermal layers. It would also have an affect on overall size and mass of extremities, as well.

What is the ratio of land versus water? Again, we are talking adaptation to environment. Low water resources would equate to a decreased need for water. Low land resources could equate to a greater adaption for amphibious or aquatic living.

What was the progenitor of the species? In humans, the great apes and humans shared a common ancestor. It is very possible, their life forms may have evolved from some form of plant-life.

In order to give a fairly detailed description of some form of alien life, all of these questions - and many more - would need to be answered. The most difficult of all these question would definitely be the last question. Sure, we, here on Earth, may be able to determine: average temperatures, day/night cycles, length of a year, inclination of the planet, degree of brightness, atmospheric properties, mass of the planet, gravitational force, percentage of land to water, etc... But... until we can answer, "What was the progenitor of the species?" the best we can do is take a wild guess!

{Ph.D. Astrobiology, Cambridge}

Answer 5

Evolutionary changes would be the most significant here. Look at deep sea fish, they live in an environment that would crush shallow water fish, yet, they proportionally look the same as shallow water fish. Adaptability is paramount here.

If the present human form is the best suited for our gravity, I would suspect that a similar form would evolve to take advantage of a low or high gravity environment. Just too many neck problems otherwise for the low grav person, and too much of the waddle factor for the high grav guy.

Answer 6

I think humans would get stronger. Their bones would be thicker, and so will their muscles. So let me say someone from a planet with 100,000,000g came to earth they would be a lot stronger and could lift weights ranging to the megatons with the same amount of effort he/she lifts 100 pounds on their planet.

Answer 7

I've been writing a fantasy novel and trying to justify the existence of giants, I'm gonna go with 'an inherited magical power to make things much lighter'.

Seriously though.. a low gravity environment, IMO would raise much larger mammals, a size that, when eventually exposed to higher gravity, they'd adapt to life and just be much bigger an stronger.

2nd and 3rd generation in low gravity would be larger still as the embryo size would increase with its mother.

Our stance on this really depends on whether you believe the animal kingdom is in any way evolved to deal with different gravitational environments.

That belief hinges on how we think gravity works on earth and in it.

Answer 8

I like the way the TV show "The Orville" approached this.

Their security officer is from a planet with so much gravity that when a (I'm assuming aluminum) bottle was tossed outwards, the gravity of the planet immediately pulled it to the ground and flattened it like it was in a hydraulic press. The officer herself is relatively shorter than most everyone else but isn't extremely muscular but she can do a linebacker ram into a bank vault style door and the door goes flying a great distance right out of the building, taking the mounting points and some of the surrounding wall with it.

She is shown taking a solid titanium cube and crushing it to form it into a round ball with little effort. This assumes muscle and bone density is exponentially higher than a human, creating a superman like effect in earth-similar gravity conditions, but are just as equal as we are here when they're back home. They also mention humans should exercise special equipment if visiting otherwise they'd end up like the metal bottle from earlier.

It's also noted their planet has earth-like atmospheric and weather properties, although I assume we wouldn't survive a light drizzle there as the rain would be super dense and falling at near the speed of sound, making every rain drop feel like falling off our water skis and skimming across the water at 60 mph... Ouch! They even mention food. She brought brownies for everyone and one person mentioned high gravity brownies being so dense and delicious with another person mentioning how heavy they are.

It leads me to believe a brownie like that would weigh roughly 20 pounds without being any larger than one on earth. The downside is the muscle and bone atrophy happens significantly faster when transitioning from their planet's gravity to lesser or micro gravity so they have to work out, do treatments, or return home for periods of time way more often. A shotgun slug injured her pretty bad, but didn't fully penetrate anything vital due to their skin being so dense as well whereas the distance she was shot from would easily kill a human at worst or have nearly blown off one of our arms at best (shoulder shot).

I assume a lot of things change as well such as the boiling point of water possibly being hundreds of degrees higher than what we are used to. Imagine a hot cup of tea being 1,200 degrees! Until we know for sure by becoming adults as a civilization and venturing out there and finding out for ourselves, as we really have is speculation and imagination. We may not know in our lifetimes, but I believe when we do find out, the humans of the future will compare their findings to the imaginations and theories of today and see just how close or how far we were off.

So write your book or theories in any direction your imagination takes you. 300 years after you're gone you could become the most remembered author of all time since you were the one to get it the closest.

The good news is if the gravity doesn't crush you like a pancake, your density would be so low you can literally walk on water! Bad news is getting in a hot tub would be like diving 3 miles into an earth ocean... Not a good idea. Taking a shower would be like sandblasting your skin off! Now that's exfoliating!