#human-life — Public Fediverse posts

Humans Will Never Live on Mars Permanently

Humans Will Never Live on Mars Permanently

Direct link to original post:https://verysmallocean.org/blog.html#never-live-on-mars

In a recent video, Taylor Lorenz’ YouTube show Power User breaks down why it is essentially impossible to colonize Mars with physicist Adam Becker, author of the new book More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Future of Humanity. They get into the actual meat of the Mars question starting about the 12 minute mark, but I’ll summarize some of the main issues for you here. As much as they try to make it sound like space could be a consumer product for the masses, it will not happen. Ever. Before I dive in here’s the video link (also embedded below): A Physicist Destroys Elon Musk’s Mars Fantasy.

Some of the most hostile features of a journey to or stay on Mars (They concede that you could probably build a research base on Mars but it would be a sad, cramped, underground experience) “You don’t see people lining up to live isolated on the Antarctic ice, but the worst day in Antarctica is far more human-friendly than the best day on Mars”:

1. Muscle atrophy & bone density loss: even with intense exercise astronauts who have spent months in microgravity/zero gravity have difficulty walking when they return and have to rehabilitate. To leap ahead towards the end, this also makes it likely babies could not survive birth after gestating in Mars’ low gravity (about 38% of Earth gravity).
2. Radiation en route: The International Space Station still gets about half the radiation shielding from Earth’s magnetic field plus some from the thermosphere, which the ISS it’s still inside, and the exosphere, which it’s still below. On the journey to Mars, probably on a ship much smaller than the ISS, you have none of that
3. Radiation on Mars: Mars does not have any significant magnetosphere (magnetic field) like Earth does, and the atmosphere at the surface has about 1% of Earth’s surface atmosphere denisty. Consequently the radiation problem is nearly as bad as outer space unless you spend all your time underground (which is kind of infeasible)
4. Rockets and Space are Insanely Expensive: “One challenge is the extreme cost of transporting building materials to the Martian surface, which by the 2010s was estimated to be about US$2 million per brick.[6]” (from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_habitat)
5. Not in the video, but no better propulsion technology than chemical rockets, ion thrusters, and MAYBE rudimentary solar sails will ever exist. Fusion is too hot for any materials you could make. Hyperspace and warp drive are mere fantasies
6. The dirt is filled with toxic perchlorates which would contaminate all the construction and cause lung disease besides being toxic to crops
7. How will you get all the construction equipment and materials to Mars?
8. How will you ever get more than a few dozens of people at most to Mars
9. Again, there is no air (no, you can’t geoengineer or terraform it. That is so far beyond human technological capacity it’s just laughable)
10. All construction of habitats would have to be done in spacesuits while being bombarded with ionizing radiation

They make the point that even the day the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs landed was a nicer day than any day on Mars, since mammals, plants, insects and other life SURVIVED it

Estimates are that a self-sustaining high tech civilization would require 500 million to 1 billion colonists, but we can’t even get to 100….

As well, there are few launch windows, when Earth and Mars are making approaches to each other and travel time would be 6-9 months in a tiny can, unlike the 3 days to the moon, which we can launch to every day

It’s all a Big Lie, a delusion, a fantasy. That seems like enough for now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOm_ucvQKRY&t=696s

Featured Image:

Humans Will Never Live on Mars Permanently

Humans Will Never Live on Mars Permanently

Direct link to original post:https://verysmallocean.org/blog.html#never-live-on-mars

In a recent video, Taylor Lorenz’ YouTube show Power User breaks down why it is essentially impossible to colonize Mars with physicist Adam Becker, author of the new book More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires and Silicon Valley’s Crusade to Control the Future of Humanity. They get into the actual meat of the Mars question starting about the 12 minute mark, but I’ll summarize some of the main issues for you here. As much as they try to make it sound like space could be a consumer product for the masses, it will not happen. Ever. Before I dive in here’s the video link (also embedded below): A Physicist Destroys Elon Musk’s Mars Fantasy.

Some of the most hostile features of a journey to or stay on Mars (They concede that you could probably build a research base on Mars but it would be a sad, cramped, underground experience) “You don’t see people lining up to live isolated on the Antarctic ice, but the worst day in Antarctica is far more human-friendly than the best day on Mars”:

1. Muscle atrophy & bone density loss: even with intense exercise astronauts who have spent months in microgravity/zero gravity have difficulty walking when they return and have to rehabilitate. To leap ahead towards the end, this also makes it likely babies could not survive birth after gestating in Mars’ low gravity (about 38% of Earth gravity).
2. Radiation en route: The International Space Station still gets about half the radiation shielding from Earth’s magnetic field plus some from the thermosphere, which the ISS it’s still inside, and the exosphere, which it’s still below. On the journey to Mars, probably on a ship much smaller than the ISS, you have none of that
3. Radiation on Mars: Mars does not have any significant magnetosphere (magnetic field) like Earth does, and the atmosphere at the surface has about 1% of Earth’s surface atmosphere denisty. Consequently the radiation problem is nearly as bad as outer space unless you spend all your time underground (which is kind of infeasible)
4. Rockets and Space are Insanely Expensive: “One challenge is the extreme cost of transporting building materials to the Martian surface, which by the 2010s was estimated to be about US$2 million per brick.[6]” (from Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_habitat)
5. Not in the video, but no better propulsion technology than chemical rockets, ion thrusters, and MAYBE rudimentary solar sails will ever exist. Fusion is too hot for any materials you could make. Hyperspace and warp drive are mere fantasies
6. The dirt is filled with toxic perchlorates which would contaminate all the construction and cause lung disease besides being toxic to crops
7. How will you get all the construction equipment and materials to Mars?
8. How will you ever get more than a few dozens of people at most to Mars
9. Again, there is no air (no, you can’t geoengineer or terraform it. That is so far beyond human technological capacity it’s just laughable)
10. All construction of habitats would have to be done in spacesuits while being bombarded with ionizing radiation

They make the point that even the day the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs landed was a nicer day than any day on Mars, since mammals, plants, insects and other life SURVIVED it

Estimates are that a self-sustaining high tech civilization would require 500 million to 1 billion colonists, but we can’t even get to 100….

As well, there are few launch windows, when Earth and Mars are making approaches to each other and travel time would be 6-9 months in a tiny can, unlike the 3 days to the moon, which we can launch to every day

It’s all a Big Lie, a delusion, a fantasy. That seems like enough for now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOm_ucvQKRY&t=696s

Featured Image:

RE: https://c.im/@cdarwin/116811617685075697

Time for a new therapist?! #Outoftouch #values #humanLife #HumanRights

RE: https://c.im/@cdarwin/116811617685075697

Time for a new therapist?! #Outoftouch #values #humanLife #HumanRights

Out of Eden Walk [mapping focus]
--
https://gis.harvard.edu/out-eden-walk <-- shared (CGA portion) of the project overview link
--
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mapping-human-journey/ <-- shared video overview of the project
--
https://vimeo.com/1006179280?fl=pl&fe=vl <-- shared CGA Out of Eden Walk completed route 3d global animation, through Sep. ‘24
--
https://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.org/ <-- shared project overview
--
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/HHFHQA <-- shared open data, Out of Eden Walk enriched GPS data
--
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11hAKxIUJQyaamsNFeVOYC7xaaSR-ES4m/view <-- shared updated route data in line format in full detail as of January, 2026 to Gustavus, Alaska
--
“The Out of Eden Walk is a 24,000-mile journalistic endeavor to create a global record of human life at the start of a new millennium as told by villagers, nomads, traders, farmers, soldiers, and artists who rarely make the news. [T]he project is led by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Paul Salopek who is walking the path of human migration across the globe, and recording what he encounters in the form of writing, photographs, video, and audio.
As a partner in this project the [Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis] CGA’s role includes mapping [Salopek]’s walking route from his GPS data and publishing it on the Completed Route Map, custom thematic map creation, essay writing and [associated] cartographic education by the CGA…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #geography #support #OutOfEden #OutOfEdenWalk #humanlife #cartography #GPS #cartographicsupport #education #learning #overview #travelers #global #record #human #migration #humanmigration #world #opendata
@Harvard @CGA @OutOfEden @NationalGeographic

Out of Eden Walk [mapping focus]
--
https://gis.harvard.edu/out-eden-walk <-- shared (CGA portion) of the project overview link
--
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/mapping-human-journey/ <-- shared video overview of the project
--
https://vimeo.com/1006179280?fl=pl&fe=vl <-- shared CGA Out of Eden Walk completed route 3d global animation, through Sep. ‘24
--
https://outofedenwalk.nationalgeographic.org/ <-- shared project overview
--
https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/HHFHQA <-- shared open data, Out of Eden Walk enriched GPS data
--
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11hAKxIUJQyaamsNFeVOYC7xaaSR-ES4m/view <-- shared updated route data in line format in full detail as of January, 2026 to Gustavus, Alaska
--
“The Out of Eden Walk is a 24,000-mile journalistic endeavor to create a global record of human life at the start of a new millennium as told by villagers, nomads, traders, farmers, soldiers, and artists who rarely make the news. [T]he project is led by Pulitzer Prize winning writer Paul Salopek who is walking the path of human migration across the globe, and recording what he encounters in the form of writing, photographs, video, and audio.
As a partner in this project the [Harvard Center for Geographic Analysis] CGA’s role includes mapping [Salopek]’s walking route from his GPS data and publishing it on the Completed Route Map, custom thematic map creation, essay writing and [associated] cartographic education by the CGA…”
#GIS #spatial #mapping #geography #support #OutOfEden #OutOfEdenWalk #humanlife #cartography #GPS #cartographicsupport #education #learning #overview #travelers #global #record #human #migration #humanmigration #world #opendata
@Harvard @CGA @OutOfEden @NationalGeographic

A quotation from Eleanor Roosevelt

As long as we are not actually destroyed, we can work to gain greater understanding of other peoples and to try to present to the peoples of the world the values of our own beliefs. We can do this by demonstrating our conviction that human life is worth preserving and that we are willing to help others to enjoy benefits of our civilization just as we have enjoyed it.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1951-12-20), “My Day”

More about this quote: wist.info/roosevelt-eleanor/82…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #eleanorroosevelt #America #beliefs #civilization #helping #humanlife #life #sharing #understanding #values

I’m listening to the album “Nebraska”, by Bruce Springsteen.
I feel like I’m walking down a city street, turn at a corner, and immediately am punched in the gut, then hit with an uppercut when I bend over.
#springsteen #nebraska #humanlife #real

#Repost @unitingnow
🚨 An innocent U.S. citizen lost her life.

This was the response.
Accountability matters.

#News
#ICE
#Justice
#Minneapolis
#HumanLife
CommunityTrust
Transparency

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

The only index by which to judge a government or a way of life is by the quality of the people it acts upon. No matter how noble the objectives of a government, if it blurs decency and kindness, cheapens human life, and breeds ill will and suspicion — it is an evil government.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 147 (1955)

More info about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/17192/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #aspirations #culture #evil #goals #government #humanlife #ideals #objectives #society #wayoflife

Saturday, September 13, 2025

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/09/saturday-september-13-2025/

Saturday, September 13, 2025

https://activitypub.writeworks.uk/2025/09/saturday-september-13-2025/

A quotation from Thoreau

The effect of a good government is to make life more valuable, — of a bad one, to make it less valuable. We can afford that railroad, and all merely material stock, should lose some of its value, for that only compels us to live more simply and economically; but suppose that the value of life itself should be diminished!

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American philosopher and writer
Speech (1854-07-04), “Slavery in Massachusetts,” Anti-Slavery Celebration, Framingham, Massachusetts

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/thoreau-henry-david/…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #thoreau #badgovernment #goodgovernment #government #humanlife #life #values

A Fire Deficit Persists Across Diverse North American Forests Despite Recent Increases In Area Burned
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56333-8 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #fire #wildfire #bushfire #NorthAmerica #USA #Canada #management #planning #mitigation #climatechange #NAFSN #treering #firescar #forest #tree #vegetation #contemporary #model #severity #loss #cost #economics #ecosyastems #humanlife #infrastructure #risk #hazard #lossoflife #water #watersupply #waterresources

A Fire Deficit Persists Across Diverse North American Forests Despite Recent Increases In Area Burned
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56333-8 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #spatialanalysis #spatiotemporal #fire #wildfire #bushfire #NorthAmerica #USA #Canada #management #planning #mitigation #climatechange #NAFSN #treering #firescar #forest #tree #vegetation #contemporary #model #severity #loss #cost #economics #ecosyastems #humanlife #infrastructure #risk #hazard #lossoflife #water #watersupply #waterresources

@gerrymcgovern TY for the post!
#BigData vs #ecosystems vs #HumanLife #Waterislife #water

@gerrymcgovern TY for the post!
#BigData vs #ecosystems vs #HumanLife #Waterislife #water

PRESSING THAT BUTTON
exploitation

#exploitation #button #billionaires #capitalists #devaluing #humanlife #commonstruggle #ClassSolidarity

PRESSING THAT BUTTON
exploitation

#exploitation #button #billionaires #capitalists #devaluing #humanlife #commonstruggle #ClassSolidarity

@Lazarou They feel nothing, they are dead inside. #Devoid. It is unsatisfied need for #Power and #Kapital at the expense of #HumanLife. It is a #LegalCrime world for most of us, and we are the victims. Victimized in every way you can concieve of since birth, but you are unaware or in #Denial. As the trajectory of your life goes on, you realize that #Autonomy and #Agency are hard to find, maybe in the absolute sense #Unattainable. #ConflictTheory

@Lazarou They feel nothing, they are dead inside. #Devoid. It is unsatisfied need for #Power and #Kapital at the expense of #HumanLife. It is a #LegalCrime world for most of us, and we are the victims. Victimized in every way you can concieve of since birth, but you are unaware or in #Denial. As the trajectory of your life goes on, you realize that #Autonomy and #Agency are hard to find, maybe in the absolute sense #Unattainable. #ConflictTheory

#BigPharma Is the Only Reason Anyone Still Dies From #HIV

We have the means to eradicate #AIDS as a threat to #humanlife. #Greed is keeping this from happening.

https://newrepublic.com/article/188772/big-pharma-greed-hiv-drugs

Why this discrimination by selling less healthy products in low-income countries like India?

Products sold by companies, including Nestle, PepsiCo, and Unilever, in India and other low-income countries were assessed as part of a global index and found to be less healthy than those in high-income countries, as per a Reuters report.

The companies, among the biggest food and beverage MNCs, were assessed to, on average, sell less healthy products in poorer countries, according to the global index published by the non-profit group Access to Nutrition Initiative (ATNI).

The index was first released in 2021, but this year is the first time it split the assessment into low and high-income countries.

Family life is frequently fraught with deep sorrows, tragedies and pains that are difficult to articulate coherently to others. Others may consider these feelings ridiculous or irrational. It frequently feels as if there is no other option except to live with this pain, swallowing it whole for the rest of one's life.

#Human #HumanLife #FamilyLife #PersonalChallenge #MentalHealth

#capitalism #accounting #externalisation #TheCommons #environment #HumanLife #subversion #economy

I am not sure how to phrase a query for the search (and do not want to use an LLM), so let me ask here.
I am looking for people and resources relevant to formulate structured requirements of nature-centric accounting, to integrate usually externalised costs of "enviroment services" aka the commons, materials, and human life, into mainstream capitalist P/L accounting.
Seemingly non-revolutionary, in effect it could upend the whole capitalism which relies on externalisation of costs and privatisation of benefits.
Is anybody doing anything in this regards? Please?

#capitalism #accounting #externalisation #TheCommons #environment #HumanLife #subversion #economy

I am not sure how to phrase a query for the search (and do not want to use an LLM), so let me ask here.
I am looking for people and resources relevant to formulate structured requirements of nature-centric accounting, to integrate usually externalised costs of "enviroment services" aka the commons, materials, and human life, into mainstream capitalist P/L accounting.
Seemingly non-revolutionary, in effect it could upend the whole capitalism which relies on externalisation of costs and privatisation of benefits.
Is anybody doing anything in this regards? Please?

Ants are cleaning my kitchen one crumb at a time. I just have to sit back, and let them do the work. #bugs #ants #humanlife

Ants are cleaning my kitchen one crumb at a time. I just have to sit back, and let them do the work. #bugs #ants #humanlife

#RachellPowell - #Philosophy of #Transhumanism & #ArtificialIntelligence (#AI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQ4m9BigE

#PhilosophyOfTranshumanism #Humanity #Human #Humans #Life #HumanLife #Descendants #Future #Futurology #Futurism #Risk #Risks #Good #Longtermism #HumanSpecies #Biology #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

#RachellPowell - #Philosophy of #Transhumanism & #ArtificialIntelligence (#AI)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeXQ4m9BigE

#PhilosophyOfTranshumanism #Humanity #Human #Humans #Life #HumanLife #Descendants #Future #Futurology #Futurism #Risk #Risks #Good #Longtermism #HumanSpecies #Biology #CloserToTruth #RobertKuhn

When everything has a price, nothing has real value.
#capitalism #HumanLife #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalJustice

When everything has a price, nothing has real value.
#capitalism #HumanLife #ClimateChange #EnvironmentalJustice

Some statistics. The price of a single Israeli life at Oct 7th after 100 days of war in Gaza:

20 Dead Palestinians
54 Wounded Palestinians
166 Destroyed or damaged buildings
1000 Refugees

Clearly an Israeli life is very valuable.

#israelgazawar #price #humanlife #statistics

Some statistics. The price of a single Israeli life at Oct 7th after 100 days of war in Gaza:

20 Dead Palestinians
54 Wounded Palestinians
166 Destroyed or damaged buildings
1000 Refugees

Clearly an Israeli life is very valuable.

#israelgazawar #price #humanlife #statistics

Vitalik Buterin: AI may surpass humans as the 'apex species' - “Even Mars may not be safe” if superintelligent AI turns against ... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-vitalik-buterin-ai-surpass-humans-apex-species #brain-computerinterface #superintelligentai #humanextinction #machinelearning #climatechange #nuclearwar #humanlife #pandemic #earth #mars

Vitalik Buterin: AI may surpass humans as the 'apex species' - “Even Mars may not be safe” if superintelligent AI turns against ... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-vitalik-buterin-ai-surpass-humans-apex-species #brain-computerinterface #superintelligentai #humanextinction #machinelearning #climatechange #nuclearwar #humanlife #pandemic #earth #mars

https://www.facebook.com/reel/7320589004640846?sfnsn=mo

The human cost of Netanyahu's corruption is too high.
#HumanLife

https://www.facebook.com/reel/7320589004640846?sfnsn=mo

The human cost of Netanyahu's corruption is too high.
#HumanLife

#ListeningTo "Ooga Booga Bongo Music" by #LuckyDragons https://luckydragons.bandcamp.com/album/ooga-booga-bongo-music Released May 4, #2016 #Experimental #Future #HumanLife #LosAngeles via #Bandcamp