RE: Science Nerds: Could Jupiter's Magnetic Field be harvested for energy?
May 7, 2021 at 12:41 pm
(This post was last modified: May 7, 2021 at 12:42 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(May 7, 2021 at 12:33 pm)HappySkeptic Wrote:(May 7, 2021 at 12:19 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: My next issue is Mars. In my setting, Mars was terraformed, but the terraforming was incomplete. Also, Martian citizens (who were human at the time of colonization) used genetic manipulation to make them tolerant to a near-vacuum environment. They gave themselves antennae and sonar so that they could "see"... because they must keep their eyes shut when in vacuum conditions.
After some time, they experienced natural evolution that allowed them to travel from dome to dome on Mars, and survive for an hour or so on the surface of Mars. They also have a natural resistance to radiation. They developed a tribal society with much war, death, and natural selection... that's my reasoning for how they evolved so well to adapt to Mars.
My question is: is any of this even remotely possible? Is it possible for a human to evolve (with help of genetic modification) to survive in vacuum conditions? Because that is my plan for the Martians.
I don't think near-vacuum would work well. Water can't hold adsorbed gasses (or not boil away) without some pressure. I can't imagine humans having an exoskeleton that could keep some pressure in their bodies.
I haven't looked it up since, but I read somewhere that terraforming to even 1/10 Earth pressure might be enough for us to not need pressure suits (though it wouldn't be enough for us to breathe).
I believe physiologists have concluded the strength and elasticity of human soft tissue such as muscle and skin tissue would create sufficient pressure to keep bodily fluids from boiling in a vacuum. But it is not feasible to oxygenate blood through gas exchange at extremely low pressures.