TALES FROM THE FIELDas told to Rachel Nuwer as told to Claire Maldarelli / illustrations by Tara JacobyOnce you leave the
world of gravity, your
bone density and
muscle mass begin to
decrease. To prevent
this, astronauts in
space have to spend
about two hours a
day working out.
While I was on the
International Space
Station in 2007, I
often used a
treadmill for this
purpose. I just
happened to qualify
for that year’s
Boston Marathon. So
I thought, Why not
run it in space?
There isn’t enough
gravity to keep you
from floating off the
treadmill on the ISS.
On the day of the
marathon, I strapped
in with a bungee-
type harness that
physically pulled me
to the surface. At
some points, the
strap was so tight
that my entire right
leg went numb,
which was a lot
different than the
typical muscle aches
a runner experiences
on Earth. Thatwasn’t the only
quirk of my orbital
marathon. By the
middle of the race,
my clothes were
soaked in sweat—
but with no wind to
dry it, the perspira-
tion just kind of
stayed there. Even
snack breaks were
different: A fellow
astronaut cut up
oranges (brought
up from Earth
earlier that week)
and tossed the slices
at me. I tried to
catch them as they
floated by, but I
ended up missing
most of the fruit.
Other things
were the same. Like
most marathon
runners, I felt terrible
at the 21-mile mark.
Astronauts actually
experience a similar
feeling during a
spacewalk, which is
a 6.5-hour exercise
session: You get
super-exhausted
right before you’re
done. In both cases, I
had to gut it out to
push through and
finish the task.AT THE EXTREMEi ran a marathon
in spaceSUNITA WILLIAMS,NASA ASTRONAUTCalifornia contains some of the largest and busiest freeways in
North America. This causes problems for local animals, particularly
mountain lions—traveling through traffic can kill them, so roads
prevent them from spreading out. As a result, we’re seeing more
cases of inbreeding and of these territorial animals fighting and
killing each other. Mountain lions in certain parts of California,
especially the Los Angeles area, now have extremely low genetic
diversity compared with those in other Western states.
By putting GPS collars on a few of these big cats—which generally
requires setting a trap and then tranquilizing them with a blowpipe
dart—we’ve learned that most don’t even try to cross the biggest
roads. Young adults will occasionally attempt it, but it’s very rare that
they make it across alive. One interesting young male called 32 crossed
Route 101’s seven lanes of traffic in the middle of the night and passed
through a residential area. He went on to successfully navigate several
major roads and made it all the way to Los Padres National Forest, a
journey of more than 40 miles. But then he tried to cross Interstate 5,
where a car hit and killed him. After seeing him travel so many roads,
it was a bummer not to have him make it across one more and find a
territory to call home.
It’s amazing that we still have large carnivores in the
second-most-populous metropolitan area of the country, and we
want to keep it that way. We’re working with Caltrans, California’s
transportation agency, to build a 165-foot-wide vegetated bridge
over 10 lanes of Route 101. As far as we can tell, it’s the largest wildlife
crossing anyone has ever attempted.SETH RILEY,WILDLIFE ECOLOGIST AT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE,
SANTA MONICA MOUNTAINS NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
LIFE AND DEATH
why didn’t the mountain
lion cross the road?
108 SPRING 2019 • POPSCI.COM