Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Nautilus

    The Argument Against Terraforming Mars

    by Robert Sparrow Aug 16, 2017 4 minutes

    When it comes to the ethics of actions, such as the decision to terraform Mars, we should ask: What sort of person would do that—a virtuous or vicious one?Photograph by Kees Veenenbos / Science Photo Library

    In Kim Stanley Robinson’s science-fiction Mars Trilogy, human colonists “terraform” Mars, turning the rocky red planet into a lush green world. The colonists melt the polar ice caps with nuclear explosives, inducing a greenhouse effect that warms the planet. They then seed the landscape with genetically modified bacteria and plants to render the newly created atmosphere breathable. By the end of this process, their descendants are able to walk and live on the surface of Mars without space suits.

    Today many scientists believe that terraforming Mars is theoretically possible with continuing

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from Nautilus

    Nautilus3 min read
    Making Light of Gravity
    1 Gravity is fun! The word gravity, derived by Newton from the Latin gravitas, conveys both weight and deadly seriousness. But gravity can be the opposite of that. As I researched my book during the sleep-deprived days of the pandemic, flashbacks to
    Nautilus9 min read
    The Marine Biologist Who Dove Right In
    It’s 1969, in the middle of the Gulf of California. Above is a blazing hot sky; below, the blue sea stretches for miles in all directions, interrupted only by the presence of an oceanographic research ship. Aboard it a man walks to the railing, studi
    Nautilus8 min read
    10 Brilliant Insights from Daniel Dennett
    Daniel Dennett, who died in April at the age of 82, was a towering figure in the philosophy of mind. Known for his staunch physicalist stance, he argued that minds, like bodies, are the product of evolution. He believed that we are, in a sense, machi

    Related