Could Cyanobacteria Help to Terraform Mars?

Binary_Bark

Binary_Bark

Forging
Joined
Feb 24, 2016
Messages
42,922
Reaction score
25,491
Location
Midgard
Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was much different than it is today. Whereas our current atmosphere is a delicate balance of nitrogen gas, oxygen and trace gases, the primordial atmosphere was the result of volcanic outgassing – composed primarily of carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia, and other harsh chemicals. In this respect, our planet’s ancient atmosphere has something in common with Mars’ current atmosphere.

For this reason, some researchers think that introducing photosynthetic bacteria, which helped covert Earth’s atmosphere to what it is today, could be used to terraform Mars someday. According to a new study by an international team of scientists, it appears that cyanobacteria can conduct photosynthesis in low-light conditions. The results of this study could have drastic implications for Mars, where low-light conditions are common.

The study, titled “Photochemistry beyond the red limit in chlorophyll f–containing photosystems“, appeared in the the journal Science. The study was led by Dennis J. Nürnberg of the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College, London, and included members from the Research School of Chemistry, ANU, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Queen Mary University of London, and the Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule.
Click to expand...

More At: https://www.universetoday.com/139481/could-cyanobacteria-help-to-terraform-mars/
 
BaronBuffoon said:
I think that it is important to ensure that Mars can hold onto an atmosphere that is friendly to most forms of life. Didn't it lose part of its atmosphere to the solar wind?
Click to expand...

That is true. Mars is smaller than the earth and lost its core heat having the core go solid. In thus there are no more magnetic fields generated by the core to deflect the solar wind as the earth's core does. Because the earths core is still hot and spinning is the one of the only reasons we still have a breathable atmosphere.

To get the geological actions to re-start on mars is not at all possible at the moment, this is why many have suggested if humans do colonize mars the best areas would be caves and fissures below the surface of mars.
 
Sugarman said:
That is true. Mars is smaller than the earth and lost its core heat having the core go solid. In thus there are no more magnetic fields generated by the core to deflect the solar wind as the earth's core does. Because the earths core is still hot and spinning is the one of the only reasons we still have a breathable atmosphere.

To get the geological actions to re-start on mars is not at all possible at the moment, this is why many have suggested if humans do colonize mars the best areas would be caves and fissures below the surface of mars.
Click to expand...

if that is true, how is it mars does have weather and storms on its surface?
dont you need a spinning core to cause winds, and therefore weather on its surface?
 
eg2505 said:
if that is true, how is it mars does have weather and storms on its surface?
dont you need a spinning core to cause winds, and therefore weather on its surface?
Click to expand...

You don't need a spinning core, the planet still rotates and with the little atmosphere that is left there can still be weather
 
Sugarman said:
You don't need a spinning core, the planet still rotates and with the little atmosphere that is left there can still be weather
Click to expand...

so would terraforming mars ever succeed with our current technology? or does humanity need to advance more to allow terraforming a entire planet?
 
eg2505 said:
so would terraforming mars ever succeed with our current technology? or does humanity need to advance more to allow terraforming a entire planet?
Click to expand...

With our current Tech, highly unlikely. We do need to advance more in tech and work on the cost for going up there.
ATM the only way we can survive on mars is going under ground because of the solar wind and radiation on the surface.
With the retrograde orbit of mars relative to the earth we have a window once every two years to reach mars with current technology
 
Sugarman said:
With our current Tech, highly unlikely. We do need to advance more in tech and work on the cost for going up there.
ATM the only way we can survive on mars is going under ground because of the solar wind and radiation on the surface.
With the retrograde orbit of mars relative to the earth we have a window once every two years to reach mars with current technology
Click to expand...

makes sense, as a few of the wilder theories, make me a bit skeptical they will ever succeed,
one of them was giant vacuum cleaners that hoover up mars soil, and throw it up into the atmosphere.
 
Would it not be easier, and cheaper, to just fix the issues we have on this planet as opposed to try and convert another into a "earth"?
 
eg2505 said:
makes sense, as a few of the wilder theories, make me a bit skeptical they will ever succeed,
one of them was giant vacuum cleaners that hoover up mars soil, and throw it up into the atmosphere.
Click to expand...
That would not work, one of the other wild theories is to re-start the core with nuclear explosions.

LCBXX said:
Would it not be easier, and cheaper, to just fix the issues we have on this planet as opposed to try and convert another into a "earth"?
Click to expand...
No, we as humans do not have much time left on the earth and we need to explore other possibilities.
The quicker we develop as an exo-planet civilization the better things would end for us and the better chance for humans to survive in the distant future
 
LCBXX said:
Would it not be easier, and cheaper, to just fix the issues we have on this planet as opposed to try and convert another into a "earth"?
Click to expand...

thats the million dollar question isnt it?

overpopulation,pollution, and climate change do all these effects, combined make one more disaster like a virus outbreak more likely to cause humanity to become extinct.

I think Humanity should colonize another planet, sooner rather than later, before we run out of rope from Earth, and before we go extinct when Nature finally has its way with humanity.

unlike most species on earth, we have gotten to a point in our development that we can protect ourselves from further harm.
so we begin to understand what our actions have, but we seem compelled to continue on our polluting and wasteful ways.
 
Sugarman said:
No, we as humans do not have much time left on the earth and we need to explore other possibilities.
The quicker we develop as an exo-planet civilization the better things would end for us and the better chance for humans to survive in the distant future
Click to expand...

this^^^

we need to start colonize other planets, much like the europeans did when they decided to sail across to the new world,
if they had decided to stay in europe, what would have the world looked like now?
 
Sugarman said:
No, we as humans do not have much time left on the earth and we need to explore other possibilities.
The quicker we develop as an exo-planet civilization the better things would end for us and the better chance for humans to survive in the distant future
Click to expand...
eg2505 said:
we need to start colonize other planets, much like the europeans did when they decided to sail across to the new world,
if they had decided to stay in europe, what would have the world looked like now?
Click to expand...
We if you consider for a moment the costs associated with trying to find ways to leave this earth to live sustainable elsewhere in the galaxy and you apply all those monies towards cloning/replication research (solving food and material dependencies), fission-energy production (solving the current parasitic ways of generating electricity), hydrogen fuel for cars, education, etc..would there be a reason to HAVE to leave the earth?
 
Yes, there still would be. It's about exploring, being curious. Just think if we can find a way to thrive on another planet what it could do for us here on earth.

There are many other threats out there for the earth other than just humans. There is a very true piece done by George Carlin that is true:

[video=youtube;tNobFi3Q-9Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNobFi3Q-9Y[/video]


The planet is fine, the people however are ****ed
 
I tend to agree with [MENTION=399265]Sugarman[/MENTION],

Human history is filed with stories of people going further and farther than others, and surviving in remote environments,

and yes, while the obstacles to colonizing mars are frankly huge, rather get started now, and get better at it like all thought human history.

as an example, Early Humans started with floating on fallen logs, gradually that evolved to dugout canoes and rafts, eventually led to sailing ships,
and then gradually on to steel and larger size, and then eventually to power-plants that could push even when there was no wind for sails.
each invention sitting on the back of another, and gradually that is how humanity advanced to settle everywhere else.


so thats what needs to happen here, yes we still need to get there, 100% agree.
but in the meanwhile while we have a nuclear powered rover driving around on mars,

do some tests and see how bacteria and other organisms can survive and serve for the purposes of terraforming.
 
[MENTION=53220]eg2505[/MENTION] This is one point, there might be life on mars there might be life on Enceladus. It would be microbial but there might be.
On your point there, its the only way we can expand more is by exploring away from the earth with human occupied craft.
AI and other equipment can only tell us so much and we don't need to keep them "alive" for the trip there and around
 
BaronBuffoon said:
I think that it is important to ensure that Mars can hold onto an atmosphere that is friendly to most forms of life. Didn't it lose part of its atmosphere to the solar wind?
Click to expand...

Yeah it doesn't even have a magnetosphere so what ever life is on the surface will be demolished by UV radiation. IMO Venus is the planet we need to be settling but I don't they have one eithee
 
mmmig said:
Yeah it doesn't even have a magnetosphere so what ever life is on the surface will be demolished by UV radiation. IMO Venus is the planet we need to be settling but I don't they have one eithee
Click to expand...

The atmosphere and heat on Venus are far to hostile for human inhabitance. Even with our current tech can't survive the environment on Venus
 
Sugarman said:
The atmosphere and heat on Venus are far to hostile for human inhabitance. Even with our current tech can't survive the environment on Venus
Click to expand...

[video=youtube;5-Xfs_yoiXk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Xfs_yoiXk[/video]

Stage one of the terraformation Venus. Venus is so close to earth in size and gravity that if people lived on Venus they would still look human on mars on the other hand is another story
 
Sugarman said:
[MENTION=53220]eg2505[/MENTION] This is one point, there might be life on mars there might be life on Enceladus. It would be microbial but there might be.
On your point there, its the only way we can expand more is by exploring away from the earth with human occupied craft.
AI and other equipment can only tell us so much and we don't need to keep them "alive" for the trip there and around
Click to expand...

yes 100% agree with you, we need to advance as a species on mars.
and yes, Humanity WILL go extinct if we DONT develop as a a species.

as for life already on mars, thats another bigger question, if we find microbes, on mars,
even fossilized ones what might happen? wont that be a bigger issue to deal with?

I mean one might then ask what do we do then?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X