[DIYbio] Re: Planetary science - biology

Well, the simplest method to give a planet-size magnetic field to Mars
would probably be to shoot the moon at it (probably about the same
cost energy-wise as collecting and bombarding the planet with
asteroids - but asteroids probably couldn't impart enough energy at
once to form a molten core) - probably better, one of Saturn's moons
might have the necessary chemicals that combining the two would yield
a suitable planet. In short, we really need a new system of energy
generation and propulsion to seriously consider terra-forming a planet
other than Earth. I'm all for terra-forming Earth to keep it in a
nice balance, but we should really be using nuclear energy - it's the
only thing that is clean (at least when you account for the fact that
enough solar panels at the modern level of photo-voltaic efficiency to
power everything we use would probably be worse that strip-mining rain
forests in terms of area blocked vs presently utilized by plants) -
the more likely option I expect to see is the farming of biodiesel in
a closed-loop form of emission. Cathal made an interesting point
regarding tidal power vs the orbit of the moon, but in the short-term
I'd be more worried about the effects of slowing the natural paths to
equilibrium of the planet with either tidal or wind power, if you use
a dielectric in a capacitor that is better than air you can hold more
charge before it shorts itself out, but ultimately when you have
energy continuously being pumped into the system, the spark is bigger
- the same concept can be applied viewing pretty much anything we
consider extremely bad weather from floods to tornadoes and hurricanes
- though ultimately the issue seems to stem from hippies trying to
think, at least in my opinion.

On Feb 1, 1:07 pm, mad_casual <ademloo...@gmail.com> wrote:
> tl;dr-
> Q: Why did Mars lose its atmosphere while Earth and Venus did not? A:
> It's mass is much lower.
>
> Apologies, I was oversimplifying in my statement about mass. Mass is
> one component in the overall equation; solar winds blow the atmosphere
> away, rotational velocity affects compression and mixing and imparts
> magnetic shielding, albedo controls vaporization, and celestial events
> like the formation of satellites contribute to or detract from
> atmosphere. If you're going to build an atmosphere from scratch, you'd
> probably choose a planet that tends to retain the fruit of your labor
> rather than loses them.
>
> Mars doesn't have a rotating iron core like the Earth does, you'd have
> to make one (requiring mass). Mars doesn't have the water to create
> oceans (maybe never did) to dominate the greenhouse effect you'd have
> to make them (requiring mass). Mars has a smaller radius and an
> analogous period of rotation to Earth, you'd either have to slow its
> rotation (requiring mass) or increase its radius (requiring mass).
>
> On Jan 31, 11:33 am, Mega <masterstorm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > "Once the size is large enough to hold 1 Atm of air pressure at
> > ground level you could feasibly start unlocking oxides in the soil to
> > make it livable"
>
> > Why that? Who says Mars can not hold 1 bar? Venus is Earth sized and
> > holds 90 bars!!
> > So Mars' Mass = 1/10 Venus' Mass => Atmosphere = 90/10 = 9 bar.
>
> > On 31 Jan., 17:40, mad_casual <ademloo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > Venus is a much more desirable candidate for many reasons:
> > > Mass- Mars isn't big enough to support an atmosphere fit for human
> > > habitation. You could float habitats on Venus' atmosphere.
> > > Productive Energy (thermal and non-ionizing radiation)- Mars' surface
> > > is relatively devoid of non-destructive energy. Venus has too much,
> > > even simple heat pumps would effectively convert atmospheric energy to
> > > other forms.
> > > Destructive Energy (ionizing radiation)- Mars is awash in it. Venus'
> > > atmosphere has a magnetosphere that affords a level of shielding.
> > > Chemistry- Mars has lower water, carbon, and nitrogen in any form on
> > > its surface or in its atmosphere than Earth. Venus has more of all of
> > > the above, typically boiled in acid and at 90 atm of pressure such
> > > that they are unusable to biological systems.
> > > Value- Fixing Venus teaches us lots about "fixing" Earth. Fixing Venus
> > > will be all about collecting energy rather than just expending it.
>
> > > IMO, put an outpost on the Moon, colonize Mars, terraform Venus.
> > > Anything else is making a purse out of a pig's ear. On that note; the
> > > human body is supremely adapted to this planet and for relatively
> > > short periods of time at that. Bending atmospheres to fit our lungs,
> > > putting chairs in spacecraft to fit our rear ends, and blasting
> > > surgeons and/or medicine around the Solar System is, to me, somewhere
> > > between naive fantasy and religion.

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