Horizontal running could help lunar astronauts retain physical conditioning
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Top inset shows the Wall of Death (WoD) used in this investigation; left picture represents its 'naked' version, with the cap removed as to allow the telescopic crane to hang the body weight unloading bungee cords from a height of 36 m; right picture shows the vertical wall inside the WoD where horizontal running experiments took place at emulated (vertical) lunar gravity; middle inset displays a rider driving fast, with the peculiar upward leaning posture, during a WoD show. Credit: Royal Society Open Science (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231906. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.231906
A small team of pathophysiologists and human locomotion specialists at the University of Milan has found that it should be possible for astronauts on the moon to prevent muscle and bone deterioration by running horizontally in a cylinder. In their study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group mimicked the effects of the moon's gravity on volunteer runners inside of a borrowed "wall of death."
