How long will it take for humans to move to Mars? Soon! Really soon.

How long will it take for humans to move to Mars? Soon! Really fast!

Elon musk, the head of the American Space Exploration Technology Company, plans to successfully move humans to Mars in 10 years; Scientists at NASA are very conservative. They estimate that it will take another 30 years for mankind to create a self-sufficient Mars city.

Mars is the most suitable planet for immigrants at present, because it is most similar to the earth compared with other planets in the solar system. Mars is close to the earth in mass, size and distance from the sun. Mars has an atmosphere and gravity, and recent research shows that there is liquid water on Mars.

However, there are huge differences between Mars and the Earth. For example, the gravity on Mars is only one-third of that of the Earth, and Mars has no magnetic field and a thick atmosphere (the atmosphere on Mars is very thin and its main component is carbon dioxide). So in order to adapt to the Martian environment, human beings may undergo a very cruel evolution, so what will the future Martian immigrants look like?

Adapt to the new characteristics of the environment

Because the environment of the earth is very different from that of Mars, immigrants who have just arrived in Mars will experience natural selection to adapt to the Martian environment. Under the action of natural selection, the physical characteristics of descendants of Martian immigrants (hereinafter referred to as Martians) will change.

First of all, Martians will have higher bone mass (the contents of minerals, collagen and protein per unit volume of bones), which is the result of low gravity environment. Through observation, scientists found that in space flight, astronauts lose their bone mass quickly, and the probability of suffering from osteoporosis (osteoporosis patients also have reduced bone mass) is faster than that of people on earth 10 times. In weightlessness, people lose about 2% of their bone mass every month. People with low bone mass are more fragile, prone to fractures and difficult to adapt to the new life on Mars. Therefore, people with high bone mass are more likely to survive and inherit genes. After several generations of evolution, Martians will have higher bone mass and stronger bones.

Martian immigrants also need to adapt to strong radiation. Without the protection of magnetic field and thick atmosphere, Mars will be exposed to intense ultraviolet radiation, which is several times that of the earth. Although Martian immigrants can build living quarters underground or wear radiation protection suits for protection. But this protection is limited, because people inevitably need to stay on the surface of Mars for a period of time to grow crops or build buildings.

In order to cope with intense radiation, the skin color of Martian immigrants will be darker, because the melanin in our body has increased. Melanin is actually a natural sunscreen, which is produced by melanocytes and can reduce the harm of radiation to human body. People with more melanin on their skin are more tolerant of radiation on Mars, which leads to darker skin color of Martians.

As the skin color deepens, Martians may mutate and evolve orange skin, thanks to carotenoids. In addition to carrots, many plants and microorganisms produce carotenoids to resist radiation. High-level radiation on Mars will accelerate the rate of genetic mutation of Martian immigrants. Some Martians with gene mutations may get carotenoid genes, and orange peel will further help Martians resist radiation. In the future, we may see Martians with dark orange skin.

Recent studies show that high levels of radiation can also affect the brain and change the memory and behavior of some people (not all). This defect may threaten some Martian immigrants, and less affected individuals can stay away from natural selection. Future generations may evolve resistance to reduce the harmful effects of radiation on the brain and make Martians better adapt to the Martian environment.

Microbial isolation zone

Although the discussion about whether there are microorganisms on Mars has never stopped, at present we generally believe that there are no microorganisms on Mars. Even if there are microorganisms on Mars, they are very rare. The distance between the earth and Mars is far away, so it is difficult for microorganisms on the earth to spread to Mars (except those carried by Martian immigrants). Therefore, Mars is like a microbial isolation zone. The isolation zone of Mars can bring both benefits and disadvantages to Martian immigrants.

Martian immigrants may not be plagued by the plague. Plague is a malignant infectious disease caused by some pathogenic bacteria and viruses. These microorganisms do not exist on Mars. If immigrants had not brought these microorganisms to Mars, Martians would not have caught the plague.

But this almost completely sterile environment will also bring many problems. First of all, some microorganisms are beneficial to our health, such as lactic acid bacteria that help digestion. These microorganisms are not born, but acquired. The loss of beneficial microorganisms may adversely affect the health of Martian immigrants. Secondly, without the threat of infectious diseases, the immune system of Martian immigrants will be useless, which may lead to the degradation of human immune system. At this time, once the Martians are infected with some germs, they will die because their bodies lack the ability to resist bacteria. If the earth people who landed on Mars later carried germs, then the whole Mars could be destroyed.

If there is a disaster on the earth, or the environment on the earth deteriorates rapidly, emigrating to Mars may be our choice. Although we can't 100% predict the future life of Martian immigrants, we are all convinced that settling on Mars will lead to the evolution of human beings into new species.