Many patients who are having wisdom teeth extracted have heard of the option to pay a company to store their wisdom teeth after it has been extracted. This has been covered on this site before such as in the post Storing Wisdom Teeth Stem Cells. The idea is that one day in the future it may be possible to harvest the stem cells in these stored wisdom teeth to help heal damage cells in your body. Some may find this idea futuristic. However, recently a someone has sent their wisdom tooth into space.
In an article appearing in the Los Angeles Times titled “Why artist and engineer Xin Liu sent her wisdom tooth into outer space” written by Deborah Vankin (October 28, 2021) a discussion is made of Xin Lui who “
“…packed up her wisdom tooth and sent it into outer space in a custom machine built from robotics materials.”
The wisdom tooth is said to have launched into space in May 2019 abroad a Blue Origin rocket that departed from Houston, Texas. As crazy as it sounds, the rationale for this was in the name of art. In fact, the wisdom tooth is part of a sculptural installation titled “Living Distance Payload” part of the “Synthetic Wilderness” in Culver City, California. “Living Distance” serves as a personal fantasy and a serious space mission, where a wisdom tooth is sent to outer space and back down to Earth. The crystalline robotic sculpture allows for the tooth to become an entity in outer space.
Liu, who is an arts curator at the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative and an to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, used the wisdom tooth to help springboard other works in “Synthetic Wilderness.” Through her work with MIT Media Lab she applied for a suborbital launch opportunity to test a spider-mimicking locomotion technique in outer space. Thus she had access to the Blue Origin rocket through her technical innovation work and not just for her artistic passion. During the spaceflight, the robotic device became active during the zero-g portion of the flight, released from its tether, spun up a stabilizing reaction wheel, and performed locomotion experiments.
In the LA Times article, Lui talks about how her work explores geographic and phenomenological boundaries, between the self and the other, and between Earth and outer space. She talks about how the the distance created geographically or physically is a metaphor and is reflected in the emotional and spiritual experience. She also expands on other works in her exhibit which includes of a photograph of the parts that went into the crystalline robotic sculpture that carried the wisdom tooth into outer space.
Its unknown how many extracted wisdom teeth have ventured into space and then returned back into Earth or if this is the first and only wisdom tooth to have done so. Surely with the launch of companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX, sending wisdom teeth into space may not be that farfetched and other teeth may also join in on the activity. Additional photos of the “Living Distance Payload” can also be found at the AKA Media System.