Latest news with #56thLunarandPlanetaryScienceConference
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Scientist Has an Explosive Plan to Terraform Mars. It's So Wild That It Might Just Work.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." If humans have any hope of establishing a long-term colony on Mars, we'll likely need to alter the planet's atmosphere to make it more hospitable. One part of this plan would require increasing the planet's atmospheric pressure, and one scientist suggests that capturing celestial objects from the Kuiper Belt—which are full of the necessary light elements required for this process—and smashing them into Mars could theoretically work. The plan is full of dizzying engineering challenges and scientific uncertainty, chief among them being the unstable nature of these icy bodies as they warm up on their approach to the inner Solar System. Putting humans on Mars has long been the dream of scientists, sci-fi writers, and (recently) politicians. But the challenge of establishing a long-term colony beyond just a small scientific outpost is extremely daunting. For example, Mars is too cold for us humans, and previous NASA studies suggest that current technology isn't up to the task of warming it up via terraforming. Elon Musk has considered more evocative solutions—such as nuking the red planet's ice caps—while other scientists have pondered more subtle approaches, like releasing reflective nanoparticles into the atmosphere. But temperature is only part of the problem—Mars' atmosphere is incredibly thin, meaning that it's also low-pressure. This is a problem for a species that's roughly 65 percent water, because on Mars, our blood would instantly boil if exposed to the planet's atmosphere. So, in other words, Mars needs lots of gas to bring up its atmospheric pressure, and the Polish Academy of Sciences' Leszek Czechowski offered an explosive solution at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held this past March in Texas. As on Earth, where average atmospheric pressure clocks in at around 101.3 kilopascals (kPa), areas of Mars experience differing levels of atmospheric pressure. The peak of Olympus Mons (the largest volcano in the Solar System) experiences only 72 pascals (Pa) of pressure. Hellas Planitia (the lowlands of Mars), on the other hand, experiences a full 1.16 kPa, making it the most likely location of a future human colony. But because you need at least 6.25 kPa of pressure for your blood not to boil, a future human-inhabited Mars will need even more atmospheric pressure, and Czechowski has a wild idea about where to get it. 'Creating an atmosphere that would allow human life is possible by importing matter from other celestial bodies,' Czechowski wrote in a short paper submitted for the conference. 'We should use Kuiper Belt (KB) bodies for terraforming.' The idea is that a future, more sophisticated human race could develop thermonuclear reactors and ion engines capable of guiding icy bodies from the Kuiper Belt (which begins just beyond the orbit of Neptune) on a multi-decadal journey to Mars, where their impact on the surface could eventually atmospheric conditions more suitable for humans. In the paper, Czechowski also considered the nearby main asteroid belt, as well as the further afield Oort Cloud, as possible resources. But the former is largely depleted of light elements, and the latter is simply too far away—it'd likely take 15,000 years to get celestial bodies from the Oort Cloud to Mars, whereas collecting Kuiper Belt objects would only take 29 to 63 years, Czechowski estimates. 'Celestial bodies orbiting far from the Sun have large amounts of volatile substances, including water, CO2, nitrogen, CO, and some organic compounds (e.g.,CH4),' Czechowski wrote. 'Some of these compounds seem harmful to life. In the terraforming plans proposed here, we envision an interim stage in which (after sufficient amounts of the above compounds have been brought to Mars) specially bred (or genetically engineered) organisms will release oxygen from H2O and CO2.' As you can guess, this plan is pretty energy-hungry, and Czechowski admits it'd require the amount of energy that all of humanity currently expends over a six-month to several-year period (depending on the particular iteration of the plan). There are also a few other hang-ups, as these Kuiper Belt bodies can become unstable during their journey toward the inner Solar System, and such a catastrophic impact on Mars could instigate earthquakes and volcanism. It's definitely a difficult plan, but then again, no one ever said terraforming Mars would be easy. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Say There May Be Life on the Moon
The dark nooks and crannies of the lunar surface just might harbor life, according to new research. In a preprint study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference last month, scientists propose that permanently shadowed regions of the Moon, or PSRs, have the right conditions to shelter microbial life forms — which could have profound implications for our efforts to explore the Earth's craggy satellite. Some PSRs haven't seen sunlight in billions of years, due to the slight tilt the Moon has on its axis. That's not news, but what's surprising is that these lightless voids could also be sanctuaries from deadly UV radiation, too. "In space, microbes are typically killed by high heat and ultraviolet radiation," study lead author John Moores, a planetary scientist and associate professor at York University in the UK, told Universe Today. "However, the PSRs are very cold and very dark and, as a result, they are one of the most protective environments in the Solar System for the kinds of microbes that are typically present on spacecraft." In other words, the PSRs could act as a freezer, preserving the microbes for years — "preserving" being the key word. "To be clear, those microbes cannot metabolize, replicate or grow here, but they likely remain viable for decades until their spores are killed by the effects of vacuum," Moores added. "The organic molecules that make up their cells likely would persist far longer." The chance of contaminating the lunar surface with Earth germs has always been a top concern for scientists. Beyond ethical and philosophical considerations, there's a practical case for ensuring that we don't ruin the data we collect in our quest to deepen our understanding of the lunar environment. One item on that checklist? PSRs, which have seen a surge of scientific interest in recent years. In fact, NASA's Artemis program is targeting a landing near the lunar South Pole, where the enduring shadows cloak the landscape. One PSR, the Shackleton Crater, is even being considered as a potential landing site. If the PSRs could serve as microbial freezers, however, then any contamination that humans bring there could persist for decades and more — far longer than other regions on the Moon — setting back lunar ambitions there for generations. Grimly, it's possible that this may already be the case. "The chance that there is already terrestrial microbial contamination in the PSRs is low but not zero," Moores told Universe Today. "Several spacecraft have impacted within or near the PSRs. Though they all did so at high speed, past research by others has suggested that small numbers of spores can survive simulated impacts into regolith-like materials. If any microbes survived those impacts, they would have been widely dispersed." More on the Moon: Robot Survived Failed Lunar Landing But Was Trapped Inside and Died Afterward
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
French scientist denied US entry after officers find phone messages criticizing Trump
France's research minister said a French scientist was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers at an airport searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration. 'I learned with concern that a French researcher' on assignment for the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) 'who was traveling to a conference near Houston was denied entry to the United States before being expelled', Philippe Baptiste, France's minister of higher education and research, said in a statement on Monday to Agence France-Presse published by Le Monde. 'This measure was apparently taken by the American authorities because the researcher's phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration's research policy,' the minister added. 'Freedom of opinion, free research, and academic freedom are values that we will continue to proudly uphold. I will defend the right of all French researchers to be faithful to them, while respecting the law,' Baptiste said. A diplomatic source told the French news agency that the incident occurred on 9 March. Another AFP source said that US authorities accused the French researcher of 'hateful and conspiratorial messages'. He was reportedly also informed of an FBI investigation, but told that 'charges were dropped' before being expelled. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The research minister, Baptiste, has been outspoken in his own criticism of the Trump administration, and Elon Musk, for making huge cuts to scientific research budgets. On the same day that the researcher was denied entry to the US, Baptiste published a letter calling on American researchers to relocate to France. 'Many well-known researchers are already questioning their future in the United States,' he wrote. 'We would naturally wish to welcome a certain number of them,' The next day, Baptiste posted a photograph of himself in a virtual meeting with a researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who had decided to take up an invitation from Aix-Marseille University to welcome researchers who wish to leave the United States. On 12 March, Baptiste shared video on X, of a television appearance in which he deplored the way that research on health, climate, energy and AI 'is being chainsawed in the United States'. In the same interview, Baptiste said that he had 'heard Elon Musk say that the International Space Station should be shut down in 2027. Who are we talking about? The boss of SpaceX? The head of the American public administration? None of this makes any sense.' It was not immediately clear what conference the researcher who was denied entry to the US was planning to attend, but the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference was held outside Houston from 10 to 14 March.
