With the alarming rate of climate change occurring on Earth, will the planet the we call “home” eventually become uninhabitable?
Although it was previously believed that human life could only survive on Earth, a recent study reveals a way to make Mars habitable.
picture of Mars Source: Pixabay
Instead of trying to make Mars more similar to Earth through atmospheric modifications, Scientists have discovered a new approach to the obstacle of finding a second habitable planet through the usage of silica aerogels.
This material, when placed over regions that are ice-rich on Mars could allow constant visible light to transmit onto the surface for photosynthesis to occur. It could also block ultraviolet radiation and even raise the temperatures underneath to above the melting point of water, without the need for any internal heat source. In addition to these factors, scientists believe that a 2 to 3cm layer thick of silica aerogel get could potentially be equivalent to the Earth’s atmospheric greenhouse effect, thus allowing the beginnings of life proliferation on our neighbouring planet.
Silica aerogel is a solid material with extreme low density, and thermal conductivity. It is an extremely porous material and is currently widely known for its use as an insulator. Currently, aerogels can be found in wetsuits, firefighter suits, skylights, windows, rockets, paints, cosmetics, and even nuclear weapons. However, this new application of the aerogel could shift the focus on the solution to climate change and global warming indefinitely.
The application of the silica aerogel can be tested in hostile environment currently on Earth, such as Antarctica and Chile’s Atacama desert. However, additional factors to the living conditions on Mars such as atmospheric pressure, nutrient availability and dust deposition still need to be considered in this on-going research.
But, through this discovery, perhaps the idea of living on Mars not too far-fetched after all.
Image of Fingers Source: flickr
– Bernice Huynh
