Unless we are transformed into new species.

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Editor’s note: Numerous science fiction novels have given man an ambitious future: to become the master of the universe. One of the most unimaginative prospects is the establishment of a permanent colony on Mars. Iron Man Musk is the most explosive drummer in this prospect. He said that he was going to die on Mars, not the one that crashed when the spacecraft landed, but the old one on Mars. But I am sorry, the real hope of human beings to achieve this is very embarrassing. This will bring some rather heavy existentialism and philosophical revelation. It may mean that we are destined to become a “single planet species.” More importantly, this shows that the alien civilization may be on the same boat as us. “The possibility that the life of wisdom expands into the whole universe will become very dim.” So, let our only habitable planet still appear. Very important. This article was compiled from Gizmodo by George Dvorsky, titled: Humans Will Never Colonize Mars

Why do humans never colonize Mars?

The idea that humans will soon be able to build a prosperous, permanent colony on Mars is considered a matter of course for many of us. However, this lofty vision does not realize that waiting for the colonists who want to live permanently on Mars is a huge challenge, if not an intractable challenge. Unless our brains and bodies are fundamentally adapted to the harsh Martian environment, the red planet will never be restricted by humans.

Mars is the closest to our planet in the entire solar system, and that’s not to say.

The red planet is a cold, inanimate place, where the atmosphere is 100 times thinner than the earth. The trace air present on Mars is mainly composed of toxic carbon dioxide, which has little effect on protecting the surface from the harmful rays of the sun. The pressure on Mars is very low; only 600 Pascals, only 0.6% of the Earth. You may also be exposed to vacuum in space, causing severe forms of flexion—including lung rupture, dangerous skin and body tissue swelling, and ultimately death. Thin air also means that the heat on the surface cannot be retained. The average temperature of Mars is -63 degrees Celsius, the lowest-126 degrees Celsius. In contrast, the low temperature recorded on Earth is -89 degrees Celsius on June 23, 1982 (Vostok Scientific Station in Antarctica). Once the temperature is below -40 degrees, it is possible to get hypothermia within 5 to 7 minutes of improper wearing.

The idea that we can quickly build a colony of hundreds or thousands of people is purely nonsense.

The quality of Mars is also less than what is generally believed. The gravity on this red planet is only 0.375 times that of the Earth, which means that a person weighing 180 pounds on Earth is said to have about 68 pounds on Mars. Although this may sound appealing (Editor’s note: weight loss is great), this low-gravity environment may cause serious damage to human health in the long run and may have a negative impact on human fertility.

However, despite the problems of one kind or another, the idea that we can easily establish colonies on Mars soon is still popular everywhere. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk expects that we could colonize Mars in the 2050s, and the University of Westminster professor, celestial biologist Lewis Darnell, estimates that it is more conservative, saying that “a large number of people moved to Mars self-sufficient towns. It takes about 50 to 100 years to live. The goal of the United Arab Emirates is to build a Mars city with 600,000 inhabitants by 2117, which is one of the more ambitious visions of the future.

Why do humans never colonize Mars?< /p>

Illustration: Soviet artist Andrei Sokolov (mid 1960s)

The sad thing is that these are actually science fiction. Although there is no doubt that human beings will eventually come to Mars, it is not impossible to establish one or two bases. The argument that we can quickly establish a colony of hundreds or thousands of people is purely nonsense. It completely denies the huge challenge of such a prospect.

Aerospace engineer pioneer Louis Friedman is the co-founder of the Planetary Society and author of “Human Spaceflight: From Mars to the Stars”, which he has no basis for. The enthusiasm is compared to the unrealized visions put forward in the 1940s and 1950s.

Friedman said: “At the time, the cover stories of magazines such as “Popular Machinery” and “Popular Science” showed colonies under the ocean and in the Antarctic.” He said that this gives the impression that humans will find a kind of Ways to occupy every corner of the earth, no matter how challenging the task is or how unfit it is. “But this has not happened. We occasionally visit Antarctica, we even have some bases there, but that’s it. The situation under the ocean is even worse, humans can do something, but it is very very There is less ‘a little bit’.” As for the human colonies in these environments, there are actually not many. In fact, there is no such thing, even though we can achieve this goal relatively easily.

After the success of human landing on the moon, Friedman said that he and his colleagues were very optimistic about the future. They believed that “we will do more and more things, such as building colonies on Mars and the moon”, but “actually Whether it is the Apollo program, the space shuttle program, or the International Space Station, there is no manned space flight plan that lays the necessary foundation for colonizing Mars, such as building the infrastructure needed to find safe and viable access to food and water. The method of mitigating the harmful effects of radiation and low gravity. He said that unlike other fields, the development of manned space flight “has been stagnant.” Friedman agrees that we may establish a base on Mars, but “historical evidence” indicates that colonial Mars is impossible for the foreseeable future. of.

Rachael Seidler, a neuroscientist from the University of Florida, says that many people today don’t realize how difficult it is to maintain a colony on a red planet.

This process takes at least a few thousand years.

Seidler is an expert on the study of sports learning and the impact of microgravity on astronauts. She said: “People are happy to be optimistic about the idea of ​​colonizing Mars, but this sounds a bit like a fantasy project. Many people like to use us. You shouldn’t let reality limit yourself to this, but you must see that this program has many potentially negative physiological consequences.”

Seidler said NASA and other space agencies are currently working to develop and test countermeasures against the various negative effects of life on Mars. For example, astronauts on the International Space Station suffer from massive muscle loss and osteoporosis, and they have to try to counteract this effect by performing strength and aerobic training in space. As for the resulting negative health effects, whether it is a long-term stay on the International Space Station or a long-term negative impact on Mars’ low-gravity environment, Seidler said “we have not yet” a corresponding treatment plan.

In his latest book, On the Future: Prospects for Humanity, cosmologist and astrophysicist Martin Rees explains the problem of Mars in a fairly brief style:

To 2100, people seeking excitement… may have built a “base” independent of the Earth on Mars, or perhaps an asteroid. SpaceX’s Elon Musk (born 1971) said he wanted to die on Mars – but not to die. However, don’t expect large-scale immigration from the planet. Here, I strongly oppose Musk and my late Cambridge colleague Stephen Hawking, who are keen to quickly build their large-scale Mars community. It is a dangerous illusion to think that space can get rid of the earth. We must solve these problems here. Dealing with climate change may seem daunting, but compared to the transformation of Mars (the earth), it is simply effortless. There is no place in our solar system that provides an environment like the South Pole or the Everest Peak. For those who are at risk of ordinary aversion, “B Planet” does not exist.

In fact, there is a whole earthing problem to consider. The so-called geochemistry of scientists refers to the hypothetical prospect of geoengineering the planet to suit humans and other life. For Mars, this means injecting oxygen and other gases into the atmosphere to increase surface temperature and pressure, as well as other interventions. The supporters of Colonial Mars have a common argument that this will allow us to turn the process of turning the planet into a livable state. Many sci-fi writers have already described this situation, including Kim Stanley Robinson’s famous Mars Trilogy. But as Friedman said, “This process takes at least a few thousand years.”

Briony Horgan, an assistant professor of planetary science at Purdue University, said that the geography of Mars is a daydream, a prospect that “far beyond the capabilities of any technology we are about to have.

Why do humans never colonize Mars?< /p>

Screenshot: Still from Cosmic Veyron (1990)

When it comes to the geochemicalization of Mars, you also need to consider the logistics issues and dare to carry out such a cross-generational project.The materials available to the Earth Engineer. In a paper published in Nature in 2018, Bruce Jakosky and Christopher Edwards from the University of Colorado tried to understand one thing, how much carbon dioxide is needed to increase the pressure on Mars to humans without wearing a pressurized suit. It is possible to work on its surface and to increase the temperature to the extent that liquid water can be retained on the surface. Jakosky and Edwards concluded that there is not enough carbon dioxide on Mars to be geochemical, and that future Earth engineers must inject the required gas in some way to do this.

It’s important to be clear that geochemistry is not necessarily impossible, but the time windows and techniques required have ruled out the possibility of maintaining a large, vibrant colony on Mars for the foreseeable future.

Before this, an unearthed Mars would be a hostile environment for the pioneer of adventure. They must first get strong radiation, which will put the colonists in a constant health burden.

Horgan said that colonial Mars faces many major challenges, and exposure to radiation is one of them. She said that this is a question that many people, including those at SpaceX, have not considered very clearly. She said that living underground or with a protective cover may be an option, but we must expect As time goes on, the incidence of cancer will increase by an order of magnitude.

Horgan says: “Radiation protection can only do this. We can quantify the risk around a year, but the risk of ultra-long-term < /span> can’t be quantified. The problem is that you can’t stay there forever [ie underground or base]. Once you go outside to do anything, you get into trouble.”

Horgan quoted a recent study in Nature, saying that the radiation on Mars is much worse than we thought, adding that “we don’t have a long-term solution unless you want to take radiation sickness.” Risk. Excessive radiation can cause skin burns, radiation sickness, cancer and cardiovascular disease depending on the degree of exposure.

Friedman agrees in principle to the idea that we can create an artificial environment (whether arched or underground) on Mars. He said that the problem of radiation has the possibility of being solved, “but the problem is still very serious. In a sense, it is anti-human.”

Life in the Martian colony will be tragic. People will be forced to live in artificially illuminated underground bases, or live in tightly protected ground stations, and rarely enter the outdoors. Living in this closed environment, the chances of entering the surface are limited, as it may lead to unique indoors.Other health problems related to living, such as depression, lack of irritating boring, inability to concentrate, poor eyesight and high blood pressure – not to mention completely out of touch with nature. Like the International Space Station, the Martian habitat is also likely to be a microbial desert that can only contain a small sample of bacteria needed to maintain a healthy human microbiome.

Another question is related to motivation. As Friedman pointed out earlier, we don’t see colonists living in Antarctica or the sea floor, so why do we expect everyone to live in a more unpleasant place? That place seems to be a bad substitute for living on Earth, and it is clearly a major step backward in the quality of life. Even we can prove very strongly that this is almost a cruel choice for a Martian colonial family who wants to breed on Mars.

And this assumes that humans can multiply on Mars, but this is still an open question. Aside from the harmful effects of radiation on the developing fetus, it is also necessary to consider conceptual issues in living in a minimum gravity environment. We don’t know how sperm and eggs will act on Mars, nor how the first critical phase of pregnancy will proceed. Most importantly, we don’t know how low gravity affects the mother and the fetus.

Seidler is an expert in human physiology and kinematics. She said that human pregnancy on Mars is still an unsolved mystery. She explained that the developing fetus is likely to be in the high position of the uterus due to low gravity, thus pressing the mother’s diaphragm, making it difficult for the mother to breathe. Low gravity may also “confuse” the process of pregnancy, delaying or interfering with critical stages of fetal development, such as the birth of a fetus at week 39. On Earth, bones, muscles, the circulatory system, and other aspects of human physiology are formed in the process of countering gravity. Maybe the human body can adapt to the low gravity of Mars, but we have no idea about it. Artificial uterus may be a possible solution, but again, this is not something we can get quickly, nor can it solve the low gravity problem associated with fetal development (unless the artificial uterus is placed in a centrifuge to simulate gravity).

There is strong evidence that any attempt to give birth on Mars should be banned until we have more knowledge. Implementing such a policy on a planet with a distance of 34 million miles from its nearest distance is another question, even though everyone hopes that the Martian society will not retreat to lawlessness, completely ignoring public security and established ethical standards.

For other colonists, the low gravity of Mars may cause serious health problems in the long run. Studies have shown that astronauts participating in long-term tasks can exhibit disturbing symptoms if they last more than a year, including osteoporosis and muscle loss, cardiovascular problems, immune and metabolic disorders, visual impairment, and balance and sensorimotor activity. There are many other health issues. ThisThese questions may not be as serious as the experience on Mars. Again, we don’t know about it. Similar gravitation-related diseases may occur after five or ten or twenty years of continuous exposure to low-gravity conditions.

Seidler’s study of the effects of microgravity shows that there are obvious possibilities.

She said: “Yes, due to local gravity problems, there will be physiological and neurological changes on Mars. It is not clear whether these changes will reach a certain level of stability at some point. My work It shows that in the microgravity state, the brain in the skull will move upwards, the gray matter will increase in some areas, and the other areas will decrease. The white matter inside the brain will undergo structural changes, and the liquid material will flow upwards overhead.

Seidler said that some of these changes will increase with the duration of exposure to the microgravity environment (2 weeks to 6 months), but she has not studied it for a longer period of time.

Why do humans never colonize Mars?< /p>

Illustration: Philip K. Dick, “The Reversal of Martian Time” cover. (Ballantine Books, 1964)

She said: “Some of these effects must eventually reach a stable level – for example, there is a structural limit to the amount of fluid the skull can hold. The nervous system is very adaptable. Even if the sensory input is Change, it can still “learn” how to control the movement in the microgravity environment. But as such, it is not clear where the upper limit is.”

She said that compared to the microgravity environment, the impact of living in a local gravity environment may not be as serious, but in either case, different sensory inputs will enter the brain, but that way is certainly not like This was done in the past in a gravity environment. This may lead to poor balance and impaired motor function, but studies have shown that astronauts can finally adapt in the microgravity environment.

Seidler said: “We still have a lot of problems with the effects of microgravity and local gravity on human physiology. We still don’t understand the safety or health effects. There is more work to be done.

Astronauts who have experienced long-term space operations will have a hard time in the first few days of returning to Earth, and will experience nausea, dizziness, and weakness. Some astronauts, such as NASA’s SScott Kelly, it feels like someone is changing, cognitive test scores will drop, and gene function will change. The work of NASA’s Scott Wood shows that the recovery time of the astronauts is directly proportional to the duration of the mission – the longer the mission time, the longer the recovery time. What is disturbing is that we have not exposed data in the microgravity environment for more than one year, and the effects on the human body exposed to microgravity for several years or even decades are even more unresolved issues.

With this in mind, how the Martian colonists return to Earth is also an unsolved mystery. This may actually be a cruel experience, especially after experiencing the local gravity environment for so many years. Children born on Mars (if possible) may never be able to visit the planet from which their species originated.

These are just health issues that we think may be a problem. There may be many other problems that lead to some Martian-related diseases that affect our brain, body and emotional health. The life span of humans on Mars may be much lower than that of life on Earth, but again, we don’t know about it at all.

Finally, you need to consider daily survival issues. Limited access to basic resources such as food and water may further limit the ability of colonies to develop and prosper.

Horgan said: “It is possible to build stable resources for a long time, but it will be very difficult to do this. We hope to be close to water and frozen ice, but For this we have to go a long way. But the more you go north, the harder the conditions on the surface. The winter is cold and the sun is getting less.”

Why do humans never colonize Mars?

Illustration: NASA

The colonists also need a stable source of food and find ways to keep plants away from radiation. Weathered soil on Mars is toxic and contains dangerous perchlorate chemicals and therefore needs to be avoided. In order to grow crops, the colonists may build groundwater culture greenhouses. This greenhouse requires dedicated lighting, a genetically modified plant designed specifically for Mars and a large amount of water that is difficult to collect on Mars.

Horgan said: “People don’t realize how complicated this is. Just considering what the colony is like to meet our security requirements is a huge challenge.”
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There may be technical solutions to these problems, treating patients with specific diseases of MarsTreatment intervention is not impossible. But again, we are unlikely to get it in a short time. Even if we develop a treatment plan for people on the planet in life, the scope of these interventions may be limited, and patients may need constant care and attention.

As Martin Rees pointed out, Mars and other space environments are “hostile to human beings,” but as he wrote in the book,

[we] (and our descendants on Earth) should cheer for brave space adventurers as they will play a key role in leading the future of mankind and determining what will happen in the twenty-second century and beyond. effect.

The so-called post-human future, Rees refers to the future era in such a hypothesis, in which humans have undergone extensive biological and neuromechanical modifications that make humans no longer classified as humans. Therefore, although ordinary Homo sapiens still cannot enter Mars, the Red Planet is open to those who dare to tamper with themselves and their descendants.

One possible solution is to fundamentally tamper with the human body, making the Martian colonists particularly comfortable with life, work, and fertility on the red planet. As Rees wrote in “About the Future”:

So, because they will not adapt to their new habitat, the explorer pioneer has a stronger motivation to redesign itself than to us on Earth. They will take advantage of the superior genetics and robotics that have evolved over the next few decades. It is hoped that these technologies, which will be subject to prudence and ethical strict supervision on the planet, will open up to the “settlers” on Mars. We should wish them good luck in transforming their offspring to adapt to the alien environment. This may be the first step in differentiating new species. Genetic modification will also be assisted by robotics – in fact, perhaps transitioning to completely inorganic intelligence. Therefore, it is these adventurers who are flying in outer space, not those who adapt to life on earth, will become the pioneers of the post-human era.

In fact, transforming humans to adapt to Mars life will require a strong change.

Our DNA must be customized to give you the possibility of a healthy and long life on Mars. This transformation involves permanent genetic adjustment of muscle, bone and brain health. These features can become hereditary so that Mars colonists can pass on these characteristics to their offspring. In cases where biology is not up to the task, scientists can also use neuromechanics to enhance, such as the use of artificial neurons or synthetic skin that can withstand dangerous ultraviolet rays. Nanotechnology provides medicine in the form of molecular machines, performs repair work, and eliminates the need for breathing and eating. In general, these changes will lead to a whole new human species – that is,It means the birth of a species created by Mars.

Synthetic biologist and geneticist Craig Venter believes that there are obvious possibilities – and it is an attractive prospect. Venter gave a keynote speech at the NASA event in 2010. He said, “For long-term space flight, perhaps including colonizing other worlds, designing organisms, and even designing people themselves – there is not much that can inspire me like this. Imagination.”

As other solutions have suggested, this is difficult and will not happen very quickly. It may not even happen. This brings us to a frustrating future: we may be trapped on the earth.

For long-term space flight, perhaps including colonizing other worlds, designing organisms, and even designing people themselves – there is not much that can inspire my imagination like this.

As Friedman pointed out, this brings with it some rather heavy existentialism and philosophical revelation. He said that if humans cannot go to Mars, it means that we are destined to become “the only planetary species.” More importantly, this suggests that the alien civilization may be on the same boat as us. “The possibility that the life of wisdom expands into the universe will become very dim.”

Friedman said: “If we can’t go to a nearby planet with atmospheric, water and stable surfaces (in principle we should be able to do it) then we definitely can’t go further. But if we are destined to become a single planetary species, then we need to psychologically and technically realize that we will only be able to live within the limits of the Earth.”

Speak well. The fact that we may eventually become an interplanetary or interstellar species remains an open question. We must work to make this futuristic vision a reality, but before that we must ensure that the Earth, the only habitable planet we know, remains.

Translator: boxi.