• Question: Can you get hiccups in space?

    Asked by smileysoph to Adam, Catherine, Karen, Leila, Nazim on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Leila Battison

      Leila Battison answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Well, as long as you weren’t floating around space without a spacesuit (because then you’d be pretty dead!) then I don’t see why not.

      Hiccups are a spasm of your main breathing muscle, your diaphragm, and as long as you have some air to breath, then you can still get hiccups. I’ve never heard of any astronauts getting hiccups in space though, I wonder how it would affect the amount of air your breath in…

    • Photo: Adam Stevens

      Adam Stevens answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Good question. I don’t know for sure.

      Would be good to do an experiment! Maybe you should write to NASA or ESA and get them to try and arrange an experiment!

      http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/nlab/experimentchallenge.html

    • Photo: Karen Masters

      Karen Masters answered on 18 Mar 2012:

      I would assume so since it’s to do with your body, not where you are.

Comments

  • Photo: ravastar

    ravastar commented on :

    Hiccups can be seen in fish and other types of animals – when the water goes through the gills and then out of the mouth, the animal prevents itself from drowning by “hiccuping” it out. We have gone a long way from that, so in us it’s just a ?random? spasm (that can appear anywhere)

  • Photo: Leila

    Leila commented on :

    I didn’t know that about fish… I think that is something that looks the same but has a completely different cause – and probably fish hiccups are partially voluntary?

    Ours are completely different, and are just caused by the completely random spasms of muscles. So theoretically, anything with breathing muscles can hiccup… Here’s an adorable video of a porcupine hiccupping!

    And a whole page of hiccupping animals! http://www.urlesque.com/2009/05/28/our-favorite-animals-with-the-hiccups-videos/