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Terraforming

It has been a vision of science fiction writers for a long time, but terraforming - the art of making a planet habitable for humans - is fast becoming serious business.

Posted by Tormod Guldvog
13 September, 2001 04:09:00

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It may seem a strange choice to invest human resources on making other planets habitable, while we are on a fast track to devastating our own.

But, considering that we have yet to set foot an another planet, dreaming about creating new homeworlds may be a good way to learn how to engineer our own climate better. Terraforming is a science which demands great knowledge about biology, chemistry, ecology and geology - and almost any other science you choose.

By studying the possibilities for terraforming Mars, our closest neighbor, we may in fact learn how to counteract global warming and other effects of our harsh treatment of the environment.

Related Links

Mankind's first true genesis device
http://www.stellar.demon.co.uk/teraform.htm
This page describes an innovative robot which, the authors claim, can be sent to other planets to perform terraforming.

How Terraforming Mars Will Work
http://howstuffworks.com/terraforming.htm
This is a good introductory article on why terraforming Mars may work, and how.

The Terraforming Art Gallery
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/gallery.htm
Great illustrations of terraformed planets (mostly Mars).

The Terraforming Simulator Project
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/simul.htm
This web site is host to the Mars Terraforming Simulator, which allows you to work out the necessary conditions for terraforming Mars the way you want it.

Introduction to Terraforming
http://library.thinkquest.org/23682/terraforming.html
Take a crash course on terraforming with this brief introduction.

Terraforming: definition
http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-ter1.htm
This is a brief essay on the meaning of the term 'terraforming'.

Alien Planet Designer
http://www.cix.co.uk/~vicarage/planets/
If you would like to terraform your own planet, check out the APD first.

Climate Engineering
http://www.chooseclimate.org/cleng/mf.html
This is an in-depth paper on the possibilities and consequences of climate engineering.

Bringing Life to Mars
http://www.sciam.com/1999/0399space/0399mckay.html
A detailed feature article in Scientific American about the possibility of terraforming Mars.

The Terraforming Information Pages
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~mfogg/
This is a very good in-depth site with lots of useful information about terraforming.