poking the internet for facts

[beccaelizabeth]

I read that Andean, Ethiopian and Himalayan populations with ancestors who have been there a good long while have adapted to the altitude so they can breathe air much thinner than sea level without getting ill. Also that they do this three different ways, and nobody had figured out how the Ethiopians do it. Andean populations carry more oxygen in each red blood cell, having higher hemoglobin concentrations in their blood. Tibetans breathe more often and expand their blood vessels, increasing their blood flow. Ethiopians don't do either of those things and yet manage to be perfectly healthy. Science is fascinated. I read a national geographic thing that explains it, from a bunch of years back. I'm still not sure I understand it right. But basically: some humans need less atmosphere than us sea level types.

So, logically, if we find a planet with less atmosphere, we could send those humans to go colonise it.
... or acquire their clever genes to grow colonists with, depending which strand of SF you go with.

I was sort of wondering if you could mix them all together and have humans that can live even higher up mountains, but you can't do selective breeding on humans so I'll have to stop wondering.

So then I was trying to find out if there's any down sides to this adaptation. Like, do they get ill at sea level? I didn't find anything on the internet about that, just about sports people living at altitude so they can come down to sea level and be a bit better. So would these altitude people just be a bit better at sea level?

I sort of wanted something that would look weird on medical charts and let someone go 'aha! I know what planet they're from! ... after Earth, obviously.' Maybe if I understood more about these breathing adaptations I could do that, or maybe if someone had been living at 'sea level' for long enough they'd just be all ordinary.

... now I'm sure I've wondered about this before, but google can't find such a journal entry, so I'll post this.

... I am hiding from reality today, btw. I read too many things about reality, so now I'm playing with nice safe spaceships.

Comments

[menomegirl.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about high altitudes but I can offer you a couple of my own experiences.

I live in Southeast Texas, in a little town called Winnie, about 17 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. (about 68 miles from Galveston) We're a few feet above sea level but not by much. It's very, *very* humid and hot here most of the year. I complain about both during the really bad summer months but the truth is that I cannot stand to be cold. Like, at all; I find 50 degress damn near freezing.

But, a few years ago, we made a trip to Odessa, which is in West Texas. It's just as hot there (probably hotter) but it's a very dry, arid kind of heat. I was miserable and thirsty the whole time and drank bottled water constantly and despite the use of Carmex, my lips got so dry they cracked. I got nosebleeds while there.

A few years later, I went on a trip to Arizona, which is way above sea level. In fact, that's the highest altitude I've ever been (discounting the plane ride.) I had no problems there even though it was fairly hot, not even with my sinuses.

I've always thought that was odd.