Human hibernation is a classic trope of sci-fi. Alien famously begins with the Nostromo’s computer waking Ripley from stasis after intercepting a signal from a nearby moon. In Planet of the Apes, Charlton Heston has sped through space for 2006 years before crash-landing on a post-apocalyptic Earth, having aged less than a year. In 2016’s Passengers, the whole plot revolves around two space colonists whose sleep pods malfunction on what’s supposed to be a 120-year journey to a distant Earth-like planet.

Despite some archaeological evidence of humanity’s ability to hibernate, though, we’re yet to figure out the complexities of long-term suspended animation using modern technology. Since the 1970s, induced hypothermia (basically, cooling the body to extremely low temperatures) has been used to protect the body during brain or open-heart surgeries, but it can only last up to an hour without significant risk of tissue damage – definitely not long enough to carry us to any habitable planets we might find in the future.

A recent scientific study published in Nature Metabolism, however, has seen researchers introduce a new, “noninvasive, precise and safe” method of inducing a “torpor-like state” – a state of decreased body temperature, metabolic rate, and physical activity, similar to hibernation. How was it done? Well, the scientists essentially fired ultrasound at the brains of mice and rats (via cute little hats) to send them into a torpor-like state, then successfully get them to snap out of it.

This process posed “no dangers to the animal”, Washington University’s Hong Chen, who co-authored the paper, reassures Dazed (no mice were available for comment). In fact, the idea to use ultrasound was sparked by the fact that it’s “the only available energy form that can noninvasively focus on any location within the brain with high precision and without ionising radiation”.

Chen agrees that “noninvasive and safe induction of a torpor-like state has been considered science fiction confined to movies and novels” – until recently. “Recent scientific findings show that torpor is controlled by the brain to precisely coordinate numerous functions,” she explains. “The brain functions as a central ‘switch’. We were looking for [an] approach to turn the switch on.”

With ultrasound, they seemingly found it. After scientists targeted the hypothalamus preoptic area – the region of the brain that controls sleep and body temperature – with ultrasound, the mice showed reduced body temperatures, heart rates, and oxygen intakes, resulting in significantly less activity and food intake. It was then possible to keep the mice in such a state for around 24 hours by emitting blasts each time their body temperature rose above a certain threshold, without them showing any signs of discomfort. When the hats were switched off, it took them less than 90 minutes to get back to their usual selves.

Mice are well-equipped to enter a state of torpor, though; they can switch on the sleepy vibes, for example, when not enough food is available. That’s why Chen’s team also conducted the experiment on rats, animals that don’t hibernate or tend to enter a torpid state. Though the reduction of the rats’ body temperature was smaller than that of mice, it was significant, meaning that there are potential implications for “non-torpid animals”.

I know what you’re wondering: when can I enter a torpid state, and feel the sweet release of sleep like my rodent brethren? All in good time. Inducing a torpor-like state could have many human applications, notes Chen. “A torpor-like state could slow down patients’ metabolism and life processes, providing critical treatment time for life-threatening conditions like myocardial infarction [AKA heart attacks] and stroke.” Looking deeper into the future, it could even – just like in the movies – address the “ageing problem” during long-term space travel, or even here on Earth, “by reducing the metabolic rate, body temperature, and slowing down other biological processes”.

First of all, though, we need to make sure that the technology can scale up from rodents, and run for longer periods of time. This will involve putting sleep-inducing hats on larger animals, working our way toward humans. For people like you and I, looking to sink into blissful torpor and awaken in a different world: “The potential effects remain to be discovered.”

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