Sad Science Fiction Plot Becomes Reality: Space Radiation Could Cause Alzheimer's
Planet of the Apes WikipediaMice exposed to radiation were more likely to fail memory tests and develop brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's. So much great science fiction takes place when Earth is either gone or forgotten. Having ruined the planet and other life on it, people have to leave and go elsewhere, only to return and encounter a changed place. Sometimes spacefaring people even "discover" a planet, only to find out it's actually Earth (see: Planet of the Apes, the forthcoming After Earth, etc.). Now a new study seems to fit this sad plot line exquisitely well: People traveling in space may be more likely to develop the memory-destroying scourge of Alzheimer's disease. We could leave Earth and then, late in life, forget it. Earth's magnetic fields deflect cosmic and solar rays, protecting those of us living on the planet and in orbit just above it. But astronauts traveling to Mars,...