Couch potatoes rejoice. Nasa is looking for someone exactly like you. The US space agency is looking for willing volunteers who are up to sleeping continuously for over 2 months straight.
Hard? Not hard? Well, this program is part of Nasa's special research that focuses on the effects of microgravity on the human body. In addition to the money, couch potatoes can now be a part of something productive without actually being, ahem, productive.
Research to document the effects of microgravity on the human body will not require the volunteers to do anything besides watching TV, internet surfing and playing computer games. There is only one catch. The sleeping beauties will be put up in a tilted bed for the duration of the 70-day project, 24 hours a day.
No breaks there. According to the space agency's website, researchers and engineers are studying bed rest as an experimental analog for space flight because extended exposure to a head-down tilt position can duplicate many of the effects of a low-gravity environment.
“Of all the potential challenges crew members encounter in the space environment, microgravity has proven to be one of the most difficult to mimic in an experimental setting.” Hence the twist. These 'Pillownauts' would get paid £3,000 per month as part of the research, while their mental health, muscle, bone strength and cardiovascular function is monitored.
(AW: Sruthi)
