ELON Musk’s dreams of forging human cities on Mars could see children become “green-skinned Martians with brittle bones and weak eyes”.
Experts predict that the SpaceX mogul’s plans to establish cities on Mars could leave humans mutating so bad they adapt to being blind.
Elon Musk has envisioned human cities on Mars[/caption]
Musk is desperate for humans to colonise Mars[/caption]
Musk, who is vocal about his goals for humans to live on Mars, believes we need to colonise it to become a “multi-planet species”.
He posted on X: “These will be uncrewed to test the reliability of landing intact on Mars.
“If those landings go well, then the first crewed flights to Mars will be in 4 years.
“Flight rate will grow exponentially from there, with the goal of building a self-sustaining city in about 20 years.”
But Rice University biologist Scott Solomon claims humans would endure living conditions so brutal they prompt a change in skin colour and loss of eyesight.
Dr Solomon says it’s the children of Martian settlers who would undergo the most drastic of evolutionary changes and mutate.
He says these kids would develop brittle bones and weaker muscles, and may develop a freakishly green colouring.
Dr Solomon writes in his book: “Science fiction has often portrayed Martians or aliens coming from Mars as being tall and lanky and thin.”
It’s also thought that the weaker bones brought on by the lack of gravity may cause a woman’s pelvis to break during childbirth.
He explained that these mutations or changes would take place much faster on Mars because of the vast changes in lifestyle, gravity and radiation.
Mars is smaller than Earth and has 38 per cent less gravity, lacks a global magnetic field, a thick atmosphere and a protective ozone layer.
This means Mars gets battered by space radiation, UV light, charged particles from the sun and cosmic rays – leading to more mutations.
And this would cause higher mutation rates in the DNA of humans living there, the biologist explains in his book Future Humans.
He says that the skin tone of settlers would likely change to help them cope with the radiation.
This would mean darker skin and possibly in a tone we have never seen before.
Dr Solomon says: “Perhaps in the face of this high radiation, we might evolve some new type of skin pigment to help us deal with that radiation.
He added: “Maybe we get our own green men.”
The scientist also predicts that humans living on Mars would be more near-sighted because they would live in small enclaves – therefore reducing the need to see far.
He used cavefish – who primarily live in caves – as an example to illustrate this.
The fish are now blind because they have adapted to living in deep trenches where they function without vision.
Another study by scientists Eneko Axpe and Eric Appel claims that half of astronauts travelling to Mars would develop Osteoporosis.
This is a health condition common in elderly people, that makes bones weaker and easier to fracture.
NASA scientists are trying to figure out how to deal with space weightlessness and its impact on the density of bones and muscles.
To combat the negative consequences of humans roaming around freely on Mars, modern astronauts exercise for two hours every day.
Appel said: “A lot of people focus on the technological challenges of getting to Mars, or the psychological challenges of being in a spacecraft for 1,000 days, but not necessarily the fact that your bones decay.
“Can people even make it, or will they be jello by the time they get there?”
Eccentric billionaire Musk hopes his SpaceX mission will mean humans can colonise Mars[/caption]
