Growing vegetables on Mars, 'Moss” is here to help

Mars may be the most promising planet for establishing a human alien colony. However, the shortcomings of Mars are also obvious. First of all, Mars is mainly composed of rocky deserts, battered by deadly radiation and harsh temperature conditions. And so far, scientists do not seem to have found any detectable life on Mars, nor have they found any nutrients for life to survive.

Photo by Sheri Hagwood / via Wikimedia Commons. Despite the harsh environment of Mars, scientists have not stopped their efforts. Scientists dream of finding new ways to grow Earth crops on the red planet. One of the more controversial methods is to find a certain type of pioneer species that can survive in the harsh soil environment and climate conditions of Mars. These species will take the lead in creating an Earth-like environment on Mars, thereby providing opportunities for other species to survive. Laying the foundation for survival of life - This is also called "terraforming the Martian environment."
"After humans colonize Mars and the moon, the resources they obtain on the planet will be extremely limited. All resources including energy, physical space, water, and nutrients will be limited." Research scientist at the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), Astrobiologist Rebeca Gonçalves explains.
It turns out that Wall Moss has the ability to withstand stress comparable to those of superheroes in comics.
A new study published in "The Innovation" shows that the most likely candidate for "terraforming the Martian environment" is a moss that dominates many arid areas of the world. Widely distributed in the Gurbantunggut Desert, Tengger Desert in China, the Mojave Desert in the United States, and the mountainous areas of Tibet, the Middle East and Antarctica. The moss, called Syntrichia caninervis, is able to survive in some of the most extreme environments on Earth that would be fatal to most organisms.
Take the Gurbantunggut Desert in northwest China as an example - it is one of the areas with the highest concentration of moss in the world. Desert temperatures range from minus 40 degrees Celsius to above zero 65 degrees Celsius, with relative humidity as low as 1.4 percent. (By comparison, the average relative humidity in the desert region of Palm Springs, California, ranges from 28% to 48%.)
The authors of the new study wanted to test the moss's ability to survive in an environment similar to that on Mars. So they conducted various stress tests on the moss in the laboratory. First, they dried some moss samples to a state where they lost 98 percent of their water content, and irradiated some with gamma rays. This radiation can kill a human within an hour or cause severe damage to most plants. Some samples were stored in a freezer at minus 80 degrees Celsius for five years, and some samples were stored in liquid nitrogen storage tanks at minus 196 degrees Celsius for 15 to 30 days. Finally, they placed these samples in a simulated Martian environment. The environment combines many of the extreme conditions mentioned above with the extremely low oxygen concentration in Mars' thin atmosphere.

Super Moss: The many structural features of Curvature Moss enable it to adapt to extreme environments. For example, the overlapping leaves and white bristles protect them from the sun and retain moisture. Image by John Game / via Wikimedia Commons. Turns out, Crooked Moss has stress-resistant abilities comparable to those of comic book superheroes. In the wild, moss turns completely black when it loses 98% of its water content, and this is also true in the lab. However, after just two seconds of rehydrating the moss, the moss returned to green and quickly regained its ability to photosynthesize. Similarly, after taking the moss out of the freezer or liquid nitrogen storage tank for a period of time, the moss can recover quickly and its growth rate is close to that of the unfrozen control group. Radiation levels well above those that would kill a human within an hour can actually promote plant growth. But when radiation reaches a certain threshold—eight to 16 times the dose that would kill a human in an hour—the effects on plants can do more harm than good.
The author of the article believes that research shows that Curcuma moss may be one of the best candidates for "terraforming the Martian environment". Researchers say mosses help generate oxygen, sequester carbon and increase soil fertility, helping to drive common atmospheric, geological and ecological processes on Earth. After all, moss cover is the earliest stage in the formation of biological soil crusts, one of the first organisms to colonize the Earth. (Compared to algae and lichen crusts, moss crusts contain greater biomass and are better at fixing carbon and retaining moisture in desert soils, thereby helping to stabilize the soil.)
Perhaps, humans really need a super Plants will be used to turn Mars into an escape route for the Earth, making Mars a livable planet suitable for human beings, animals and plants to survive. Of course, what we cannot predict is what unexpected consequences human intervention will trigger on Mars or other planets. "This question is of philosophical significance. Many people are thinking about how to immigrate to Mars by ethical means while protecting the Martian environment." Goncalves said. She recently published a study in the journal PLOS One that explores the potential benefits of using intercropping, an ancient agricultural technique, to grow food on Mars.
Author: Tom Metcalfe
Translation: Bian Ying
Reviewer: Xiao Cong
Original link: The Moss That Could Terraform Mars
This article comes from WeChat public account: WeChat public account (ID: null), author: Tom Metcalfe

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