Ever since we learned that the surface of planet Mars is cold and dead, people have wondered if there is a way to make it friendlier to life.
Ever since we learned that the surface of planet Mars is cold and dead, people have wondered if there is a way to make it friendlier to life.
In a groundbreaking study published Aug. 7 in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Central Florida have proposed a revolutionary approach towards terraforming Mars. This new method, using engineered dust particles released to the atmosphere, could potentially warm the Red Planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit, to temperatures suitable for microbial life—a crucial first step towards making Mars habitable.
The proposed method is over 5,000 times more efficient than previous schemes to globally warm Mars, representing a significant leap forward in our ability to modify the Martian environment.
What sets this approach apart is its use of resources readily available on Mars, making it far more feasible than earlier proposals that relied on importing materials from Earth or mining rare Martian resources.
Read more at University of Chicago
Photo Credit: Aynur_zakirov via Pixabay
