My concept is the Personal Self-Replicating Habitat (PSRH). It is a hybrid of personal exoskeleton and epidermal replacement. The goal is to enable human survival in an otherwise uninhabitable outer environment while minimizing interference with normal human life.
This would be done by mimicking and improving upon the functionality of human skin, primarily:
- Protection from harsh winds and debris
- Heat regulation through blood supply and evaporation
Current functions that would need to be maintained:
- Sensation through nerve endings that react to heat, cold, touch, pressure, vibration
- Storage and synthesis of vitamins
- Secondary functions: excretion and absorption
These functions would be achieved by multifunction nano-robotic units which would combine to function as an epidermal replacement. The PSRH would maintain current skin functions by staying as close to human epidermis in design as possible. The nano-robots would derive materials from naturally growing epidermis and the blood stream. Human users would take dietary supplements to introduce necessary materials into their bloodstream that would not normally occur. Energy would be derived from the blood stream as regular skin does. Prestin, a motion-sensitive protein, could also be implemented if necessary.
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Another possibility is creating a set of self-replicating bio-mechanical nano-robots to live directly under existing epidermis. They would gain materials and energy as previously described, but would not have to go through the complicated process of breaking down natural epidermis and replacing it. While this method doesn't offer additional protection from environment irritants, it would be a much more easily implementable way to maintain body temperatures under conditions not suitable for regular human inhabitation.
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