Throughout the millennia, man has distinguished himself by his formidable ability to adapt to his environment and to the changes in the world in which he lives. Adaptation to the environment is one of the remarkable elements of human capacities and to contribute decisively to the development of habitat on the entire planet earth.

But while life in our Western societies may tend to be increasingly aseptic, protected from the hazards of our environment and limiting the demands and adaptations of the human organism (less physical activity, etc.), gigantic challenges such as climate change or the prospect of permanent human exploration and life beyond our planet Earth (lunar base, space mission to Mars) will most likely require rediscovering and further developing human capacities and limits for adaptation to new, sometimes extreme environments.