Studying the behaviour of lemurs could help us slip into a long sleep in space

On cold, dark days it is tempting to imagine shutting yourself away until the warmer weather returns. Many animals do it by entering a state known as torpor, which reduces their bodily functions to a minimum and uses fat stores in their body for energy, but could humans ever hibernate in the same way? Vladyslav Vyazovskiy, associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Oxford has explained what torpor does to the body and how it could affect the human body in an article for The Conversation. An expert has explained what torpor - or the act of shutting the body down during hibernation - does to the body and how it could affect humans. A'therapeutic torpor' could make a manned mission to Mars more feasible.