The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Get Rock Hard Wood Now
& Preparing the New Place

(Two from the science desk
-- though mostly one about Mars)

While requiring a few days of special treatment, a 1400 degree C furnace and an argon-filled (though likely any of the noble gases would do the trick) cooling vessel somewhat limit the widespread application, DOE scientists have replicated "petrified" wood in the lab. The natural process involves millions of years of gradual replacement of organic structures with infiltrating, dissolved and redeposited minerals. The artificial process involves alternating baths in acid and a silica solution and then an intense bake. Being able to replicate fine organic structures in mineral form is one of those pure sciene applications that may have significant, practical applicaitions, ranging from special filters to high strength materials due in both cases to the dense arrangements of fibers. Other applications are always possible.

Then, while the notion of introducing more greenhouse gases to the Martian atmosphere as a means of warming our smaller, colder neighbor is hardly anything new, some researchers have suggested using artificially-created greenhouse gases made from materials found on the Martian surface. These flourine-based gases would be many thousands of times more effective in promoting global warming than carbon dioxide, and once they had raised the temperature sufficiently the frozen carbon dioxoide on Mars would sublime and join in the work. Recent revelations that the Martian polar icecaps are predominantly water, not carbon dioxide as was surmised for decades, were initially a blow to terraformers but coud in the long run prove to be better news if these induced greenhouse gases can jumpstart the warning process. After all, a supply of water will prove essential in the long term. Due to the increased distance from the Sun Mars needs to have a significant greenhouse effect initiated in order to trap the heat necessary to bring it up to temperatures suitable for human beings. This process would also thicken the atmosphere and raise its pressure, both of which are desirable effects.

The process would still almost certainly take centuries or more to complete -- a "completion" I suspect that would be a process of fine adjustment, including the cultivation of either natural Earth-born plants or specially genetically-engineered ones to begin the process of introducing a terrestrial life-sustaining amount of oxygen to the mix -- but in the meantime an expanding colony of enclosed living structures could be established. (They'll be needed to service and probably occasionally relocate the gas-generating/conversion stations and to tend the greenhouses and eventual "seeding" projects. Unlike proposed Lunar colonies (which are still an excellent idea, btw.) the colonists on Mars could look forward to leaving the legacy of a living planet over to their descendants. Doling out homesteader rights to colonists will be key to human expansion into terraformed environments.

Other reports on the piece include some dissenting voices (at the end of the piece), though these appear to be from those who want to conserve the Martian system as it is until they're satisfied that they've eliminated the possibililty of existing, Martian-born microoganisms and studied enough of the planet's possible biological past to not be worried about the relatively sudden changes destroying either or both. That such investigations are unlikely to ever be conclusive in some minds, however, makes it clear that this is going to be a war between terracentric pragmatism and pure science. The debate is already spirited, and will only continue to heat up as each possibility makes such terraforming more possible.

I was concerned about the nature of octafluoropropane (the primary atrificial greenhouse gas proposed), particularly any toxicity issues. Knowing how stable flourine compounds tend to be - flourine is electrochemically voracious, and so is extremely dangerous in its elemental form but forms extremely stable solids (much as common table salt is built from the lethally reactive gas chlorine and the alkali sold potassium, that burns brightly when it comes in contact with water - I wasn't surprised to see that there's apparently no problem. Octafluropropane has a hazard class of 2.2, which is the same as nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

What isn't handy is the answers to the questions of which naturally-occurring Martian materials are being targeted to produce this new gas. As mentioned above, flourine compounds tend to be very stable, which implies that it will take some coaxing to get them to form the octoflouropropane. Still, it's vastly more practical than any consideration of importing the materials. Hopefully a catalyst will be able to play a part, and so reduce the amount of energy required. I'm also a little concerned about any by-products, since we're breaking up at least one existing compound. I'll have to do some more digging.