Well, that may be a leap of logic, but it’s something that could come about if what this BBC News article says is true.

According to the article, University of Washington researchers induced a state of suspended animation in laboratory mice by exposing them to air containing 80 ppm of hydrogen sulfide (a substance that smells like rotten eggs — hence the title of this post).

I guess since we humans are only a genetic stone’s throw away from mice, this technique might apply to us as well, opening the door to a lot really cool stuff like long-distance space travel.

Of course the downside to this is that if such a technique proves useful for putting space travelers into hybernation prior to a long launch, the last thought an astronaut might have before falling into a deep and possibly dreamless sleep would be, “Ok, who farted?”. I guess it’s a small price to pay for expanding frontiers and whatnot.

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