The universe is a scary place — there's no denying that. And Earth, while it certainly has its hair-raising moments, is pretty approachable. Given that, it might baffle some people that anyone would want to leave our planet in search for a new home, but this rock can't keep us going forever.
At some point, humanity's future will likely depend on our ability to "abandon ship," and it'd be a sad day if that point arrived, and we were stuck at square one. Without much knowledge about what it takes to sustain life, you might assume that our nearest neighbors would be the likeliest candidates. Discovery took a look into why the planets in our solar system can't sustain life in the video below. While most of the information might be a refresher for a lot of us, there's still some information in here worth hearing again. When you're done with the video, be sure to continue scrolling. There's more!
So, it's safe to say that in their current states, our neighboring planets won't be havens for life anytime soon. We're left with two options: either we find a planet that can support life (with the knowledge that it lays many lightyears away), or we reform one of our neighboring planets in a process known as "terraforming." As you learned above, Mars has toxic dust storms that last months — but that doesn't mean that it's out of the terraforming picture. Terraforming Mars would involve building an atmosphere, in hopes that it will be able to trap solar radiation and create heat. Check out the video below for a bit of information on what that would entail, and be sure to let us know what you thought in the comments below. When you're done watching, share it with your friends on Facebook!
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