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Comment by griffzhowl | Hacker News Reader

"Survive" means, after growing in normal Earth conditions, seven days' exposure to Mars-like conditions didn't kill the plants, and they were able to regenerate after being returned to Earth-like conditions. So it doesn't show the plants could actually grow on Mars.

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Life is pretty good at adapting. If we did a lot of selective breeding and genetic manipulation ahead of time and then made a sustained effort to repeatedly seed the more temperate locations on Mars we might eventually see something survive. I do think it's a bit early for that stage of terraforming. We really should experiment with smashing asteroids into Mars to see if we can kick up enough CO2 to make a difference first. I also like the idea of repeatedly impacting a single crater in order to excavate a very deep and wide hole to trap atmospheric gasses and create enough pressure near the bottom for a more human friendly environment. It'd have the added benefit of depositing a bunch of metals and other elements in a convenient location where they could be mined and smelted.

I look forward to seeing The Moss in theaters several years from now. Opening scene is a beautiful valley which turns out to be Mars followed by two hours of seeing how it has spread, done some irreparable damage to the planet which requires intervention to save surrounding planets, all while the mutant gene continues wreaking havoc on unsuspecting scientists trying to study the issue. Killer weed from outer space. Spreads on metals which alters their material properties. Filters certain gases or creates localized atmospheric conditions which prevent the team of scientists, and maybe frontier communities, from escaping the planet while their other resources get taken over by the moss... there's a lot of shlock possible here.

Why not just remake andromeda strain

they did in 2008. how many times does it need to be remade?

Oof, whoops.

Creepshow?

I'd expect it to be more like "Life - 2017" where we think we can be smart and manipulate something in a "controlled" environment only to have the hubris bite us in the ass.

"Surviving" is different from "thriving". The Universe in general seems to be very, very hostile to life.

As long as it can reproduce you still get exponential growth.

1 mistake, incorrect assumption or missing data and we will mess up the only planet in solar system at least theoretically ok for terraforming atrempts, even if not ideal.

If we should seed planet (and we shouldnt at this point, we are still pretty much clueless in so many things), at least with something that produces O2. But we shouldnt anyway, 1 bad mutation and we will have maybe cyanide or trifluorides in atmosphere instead on top of current challenges.

I´m not an expert, but, I remember reading somewhere that Mars does not have enough gravity to support an atmosphere suitable for humans, most water molecules can evaporate "into space". Due to Mars lower gravity 3.71 m/s^2 (roughly 38% of earth´s), its more feasible for "normal" molecules to achieve escape velocity and thus bleed into space....

Mars bleeds atmosphere in millions of years timescales. Not enough to effect it in human life time scales.

It matters a lot of it bleeds off faster than you can reasonably replenish it.

So you are saying if we used this stuff as an air recycler in a Mars colony, and there was a catastrophic failure we could repair the recycler without losing the greenery?

If they kept exposing them I wonder could they use artificial selection to make something that could grow in those conditions?

Probably not, there is not much on Mars, specifically water and nitrogen availability and other minerals, organic materials like amino acids in the soil, and lack of a root microbiome.

A plant would have to completely change how it operates, which is unlikely under selection processes.

Maybe sending something anaerobic, like cyanobacteria?

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