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How settling Mars could create a new human species

nautil.us

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Re: How settling Mars could create a new human species

#101

Post by eloisant »

M_Grey wrote: post #8
rootbear wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. It would be interesting to see how genetic engineering might be used to "steer" the changes needed to adapt to life on Mars. I've been concerned about the gravity issue for some time. It's not at all clear that 0.38g is healthy for humans in the long term. And the radiation threat is a very serious issue, even just for the trip out there. The long term effects are hard to predict. It really is a pity that Ven…

Or we could try to exploit the 78%+ of this planet we don't use... the oceans. Easier than space, that's for damned sure.

And let's not forget the Sahara, the Gobi Desert, etc...

Cleaning the atmosphere and terraforming those deserts is probably much easier than terraforming Mars.

Re: How settling Mars could create a new human species

#102

Post by edblarney »

kwhitefoot wrote: post #99
edblarney wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1000 years or a million - it's irrelevant I think. After 1000 years of evolution and progress, we may have very different ideas about everything we understand. We might possibly abandon Mars 'terraforming' for going to 'ready to go' planets that we can access further away. Humans are not very good at planning at that horizon. The only group that does that is the Catholic Church. The big Cathedral in Cologne, Germany…

> The big Cathedral in Cologne, Germany took 700 years to build. Yes, but: I doubt that they planned it that way.

Admittedly, you're right, it was not fully planned in that manner, but it would have taken a consistent vision over 100's of years, much like the colonization of another planet.

Re: How settling Mars could create a new human species

#103

Post by sliken »

dfar1 wrote: post #9

The idea of colonizing another planets is so surreal it makes me wish I would live another 100 years. Having mars as our launch pad, I wonder where we could go from there.

Assuming mars has the materials needed it could become quite the space hub. Seems hard near the absolute limit to build a space elevator on earth. But with less atmosphere, less gravity, and a smaller planet an elevator (and dramatically cheaper access to space) could be quite useful.

Re: How settling Mars could create a new human species

#104

Post by sliken »

edblarney wrote: post #55
dfar1 wrote: post #9

The idea of colonizing another planets is so surreal it makes me wish I would live another 100 years. Having mars as our launch pad, I wonder where we could go from there.

Living on Mars = living inside a crapped space your entire life and never being able to breathe fresh air, or take a walk outside. Maybe in 1000 years Mars will be nice. I think until then - nice for a short visit. Living in a box would get tiring very, very quickly.

Dunno, sure mountains, lakes, and the grand canyon are nice. But how often does the average person see something like that?

Seems like most people are inside at home, driving, inside at work, or occasionally inside a store/coffee shop.

With less gravity, and square feet free for the taking you could build large interior spaces well larger than people are used to on earth.

TV/displays are good enough you could build a large underground house and sprinkle around larger "windows" with a view of whatever you want.

Re: How settling Mars could create a new human species

#105

Post by L_226 »

edblarney wrote: post #55
dfar1 wrote: post #9

The idea of colonizing another planets is so surreal it makes me wish I would live another 100 years. Having mars as our launch pad, I wonder where we could go from there.

Living on Mars = living inside a crapped space your entire life and never being able to breathe fresh air, or take a walk outside. Maybe in 1000 years Mars will be nice. I think until then - nice for a short visit. Living in a box would get tiring very, very quickly.

Forget where I read it, gliders might be a popular recreation on Mars due to low gravity and low air traffic.
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