Long-duration spaceflight presents humanity with a challenge as old as survival itself: how to preserve the human body under extreme conditions of isolation, radiation, and resource scarcity. The HIBERIA initiative—short for Hibernation Intelligence Base for Education, Research, and International Alliance—confronts this issue not just as a technical hurdle but as a call for a new era of scientific collaboration.
From fiction to biomedical frontier
At its core, HIBERIA is not a device or a singular experiment. It’s a global, open-science ecosystem that uses artificial intelligence and multidisciplinary research to explore the potentials of human hypometabolism—the deliberate slowing of human metabolism, potentially akin to natural hibernation. What was once a trope of science fiction is now being studied with real biomedical, neurophysiological, and engineering tools.
“In frontier science, like human hibernation research, breakthroughs rarely begin with answers. They begin with alignment. When we bring disciplines into sync, we create the potential for a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.”
— Dr. Ekaterina Kostioukhina, Flight Doctor & Space Medicine Researcher
Built on open science principles
HIBERIA draws on the urgency and model of COVID-era science collaboration, where open databases and distributed innovation sped up vaccine development. It aligns closely with NASA’s Open Science and Citizen Science mandates—democratizing both access and contribution to research.
Transformative potential on Earth
Hypometabolic states, if safely induced in humans, could revolutionize Earth-based medicine. From emergency trauma care and organ preservation to reducing ICU metabolic strain and even advancing refugee crisis response, slowing human metabolism could buy time where time is most desperately needed.
“Human hibernation isn’t just about reaching Mars. It’s about redefining how we survive critical illness, manage scarce resources, respond to emergencies, and unlock solutions to some of the toughest medical and humanitarian challenges here on Earth.”
— Dr Ekaterina Kostioukhina, Flight Doctor & Space Medicine Researcher
Collaboration over competition
Rather than operating in academic silos, HIBERIA provides a platform that bridges biology, engineering, ethics, AI, and global health policy. It serves as a “mission control” for researchers who might otherwise never cross paths.
Central to this design is the belief that technology must amplify human capacity, not replace it.
“Technology becomes transformative when it helps human minds collaborate—not just faster, but deeper. It amplifies our collective ability to imagine, solve, and build.”
— Dr Ekaterina Kostioukhina, Flight Doctor & Space Medicine Researcher
An AI-driven knowledge commons
HIBERIA’s AI-powered platform helps researchers translate, index, and synthesize knowledge across disciplines—connecting rodent torpor studies with biomedical research and even indigenous knowledge about altered physiological states.
“To become a spacefaring species, we must first become a truly collaborative one. HIBERIA is a step toward that, aligning knowledge across disciplines to solve what no single field can solve alone.”
— Dr Ekaterina Kostioukhina, Flight Doctor & Space Medicine Researcher
A new scientific imagination
Ultimately, HIBERIA proposes more than a technological leap—it offers a new scientific ethic grounded in openness, cooperation, and curiosity.
“Human intelligence remains the driving force behind discovery. When supported by artificial intelligence, our ability to collaborate, question, and innovate expands—unlocking solutions that were once, like human hibernation, in the realm of science fiction.”
— Dr Ekaterina Kostioukhina, Flight Doctor & Space Medicine Researcher
In a time of urgent planetary transitions and interplanetary ambitions, HIBERIA offers a vision where innovation is collective, purpose-driven, and profoundly human. It’s not just about surviving space—it’s about reimagining survival itself.
