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Terraforming
What if sometime in the future planet hunting became a matter of survival.
The likelihood of finding "Earthlike planets" is high, but how Earthlike is "Earthlike"? Do we mean a planet with comparable size and gravity? Or a planet with a breathable atmosphere and similar temperatures?
We only need to look at Mars to see that the conditions do not have to be very different before a planet becomes incapable of supporting human life. However, what if we are able to transform "almost Earthlike" planets into planets that we could comfortably live on? This process is called terraforming.
Colonising Mars could be one way to temporarily alleviate the looming population crisis on Earth. If we wanted to colonize Mars (or another "almost earthlike" planet) we could try to terraform the planet so that we could sustain a community there.
This debate asks "Can we terraform?" and "If we can terraform, should we?"
- Team 1 argues that terraforming Mars should be a priority. What are the political and social benefits of terraforming? What ethical dilemmas do we solve by terraforming? Examine what we could achieve with our current technology or technology that is feasible in the near future.
- Team 2 argues that under no circumstances should we terraform Mars. What are the political and social pitfalls? What ethical conundrums would arise? What technical difficulties would we encounter?
Do the ethics of terraforming change if we find a planet that has preexisting
life? Does this depend on whether the life is advanced or simple?
Resources:
Helpfull links and references- Start Here!
References
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"Search for Life on Mars",
M. Walter, 1999, Perseus Books.
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"The Fifth Miracle: the search for the origin of life",
P. Davies, 1998, Penguin.
The Mars/Earth connection 3.5-4 billion years ago.
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"Earth - Evolution of a Habitable World", Johathan I. Lunine, 1999, Cambridge University Press.
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"Evolution of Hydrothermal Ecosystems on Earth (Mars?)",
1996, Ciba Foundation Symposium 202, Wiley.
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