So much effort. So much technology. So much hope. We put all into our exploration of Mars. And now we discover that in the presence of UV radiation the perchlorate salts on the Martian surface can kill bacteria, the creatures that are ubiquitous life-forms on our own planet and the ones that we hoped we might find on Mars.
Perchlorates are bad for little one-celled creatures. They are even bad for big ones like us. What might be the consequences of landing on a perchlorate planet for us creatures who have thyroids, one of the glands that exposure to perchlorate can impact negatively?
I’m not going to Mars. First, I don’t have the money to sign on to one of those expensive trips. Second, I don’t think anyone has a very good chance of making the trip safely at this time. Third, I like Earth, even though my kind of creature has produced many perchlorates of aluminum, potassium, and sodium. So far, I’ve been able to deal with these threats to my thyroid.
It is, of course, possible that bacteria have found refugia on Mars, maybe underground, where groundwater is available and damaging UV radiation isn’t. We’ve found thriving bacteria deep underground on Earth, so why not on Mars?
All life exists because of refugia. Some places offer protection not found outside their boundaries. Our refugium is one beneath a protective layer of ozone and an atmosphere that blocks dangerous gamma rays and X-rays. In a sense, we owe our flourishing not only to the atmospheric shield and other physical refugia, but also to psychological refugia, circumstances in which nourishing promotes flourishing.
Outside the protection of refugia dangers abound. Outside psychological refugia, emotions undergo changes, most of them negative, some very destructive.
See whether you find this interesting: Perchlorates are used in making solid rocket fuel. Say we use some in getting to and landing on Mars. The very stuff that gets us to Mars is the very stuff that is likely to kill off the very life we are so interested in finding there.
Is almost every human endeavor filled with irony?
Perchlorates are bad for little one-celled creatures. They are even bad for big ones like us. What might be the consequences of landing on a perchlorate planet for us creatures who have thyroids, one of the glands that exposure to perchlorate can impact negatively?
I’m not going to Mars. First, I don’t have the money to sign on to one of those expensive trips. Second, I don’t think anyone has a very good chance of making the trip safely at this time. Third, I like Earth, even though my kind of creature has produced many perchlorates of aluminum, potassium, and sodium. So far, I’ve been able to deal with these threats to my thyroid.
It is, of course, possible that bacteria have found refugia on Mars, maybe underground, where groundwater is available and damaging UV radiation isn’t. We’ve found thriving bacteria deep underground on Earth, so why not on Mars?
All life exists because of refugia. Some places offer protection not found outside their boundaries. Our refugium is one beneath a protective layer of ozone and an atmosphere that blocks dangerous gamma rays and X-rays. In a sense, we owe our flourishing not only to the atmospheric shield and other physical refugia, but also to psychological refugia, circumstances in which nourishing promotes flourishing.
Outside the protection of refugia dangers abound. Outside psychological refugia, emotions undergo changes, most of them negative, some very destructive.
See whether you find this interesting: Perchlorates are used in making solid rocket fuel. Say we use some in getting to and landing on Mars. The very stuff that gets us to Mars is the very stuff that is likely to kill off the very life we are so interested in finding there.
Is almost every human endeavor filled with irony?
RSS Feed