Clickbait nonsense. Remove this article.
I understand that this isn't a very great article, but like I thought would happen, it started a nice discussion here. I love the quality of comments on HN.
Colonising Mars is unlikely and a bad idea
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Re: Colonising Mars is unlikely and a bad idea
#22The idea that humans shouldn’t expand into the cosmos for fear of displacing some xenoplanktons is nuts. I’m not anti-xenoplankton, but I’m very pro-human. We will inherit the stars.
Re: Colonising Mars is unlikely and a bad idea
#23I found this article incredibly frustrating to read. It doesn't do anything to support either of its two titular stipulations. The best I could find as to why colonizing mars is unlikely: > But according to a new study, published in Nature Astronomy, Mars has lost so much of its potential greenhouse gases to space over billions of years that there is now no possibility of transforming the remaining atmosphere into a…
The point that the author is (not very well) making for the “second stipulation” you reference is that if we showed up carelessly we could contaminate existing life and we couldn’t be sure that the life really existed on Mars before we got there if we weren’t careful.
Re: Colonising Mars is unlikely and a bad idea
#24Honestly, I see no point in colonising Mars when there are still places like the Antarctica and ocean floor which are, with all the difficulties, much more hospitable and easier to reach.