Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars

Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by nrclark on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @12:45PM (#17610651)

There's almost nothing we could do to this planet which would make Mars a more attractive option. I guess there's always a meteor/comet risk, but practically anything else still leaves Earth as a better option.

Even if we all had to live in bio-domes because the planet was so polluted, it would _still_ be a better option than Mars, just by virtue of the fact that we have gravity and an atmosphere. On Mars, a cracked bio-dome means everybody dies. On Earth, you could probably just go fix it.

Earth has:

  - Gravity
  - Much better temperatures compared to Mars
  - A moderately-pressurized atmosphere
  - Water (even if it's salty/polluted)

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Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by jononor on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @01:12PM (#17610917)

A thermonuclear war and the ensuing nuclear winter would shift the situation quite a bit. Which is not that far-fetched, we have the capability and have been dangerously close a couple of times. Earth might still have stronger fundamentals, but it is good to have options. And, perhaps more importantly, technology developed in pursuit of becoming a multi-planetary species might very well help here on earth too - both in our current development path and in case of disaster.

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Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by TeMPOraL on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @12:59PM (#17610790)

I generally agree (and I'd add: magnetic field, more sunlight - not just for temperature, but also power generation), but come on, Mars does have gravity :).

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Re:Liquid water 'lake' revealed on Mars by vokep on Wednesday July 25, 2018 @03:31PM (#17612082)

Its not that Mars would be better or even equal, but that it would be a second chance, just in case.

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