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#51 2005-02-07 19:37:08

Zusayan
Member
From: uk
Registered: 2005-02-06
Posts: 14
Website

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Fitness exo-armor and jackets is the answer.

A Leather jacket with fleece and fur-lined fitted with hardened plastic plates made to weigh 1.5 human weight making its wearer weigh 2.5 times heavier on Mars (which is the same as you would be on earth).

Some go over space-suits (allowing for lifesuport backpack weight), and others without the fur lining for casual indoors attire.

Also the harded Mars baseball cap weighted to 1.5 human head wieght, which is also a safty device.

Mars trendy ones will need to be devised for teens.
(Like ' I met an alien from earth', and 'Mean Mean Martian Machine' and ofcourse 'Sexy Martian Babe'.)


Are you Zusayan too?
[url=http://www.geocities.com/zusayan/]http://www.geocities.com/zusayan/[/url]

[url=http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/index.php?mforum=zusayan]http://www.phpbber.com/phpbb/index.php?mforum=zusayan[/url]

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#52 2005-03-20 11:18:55

srmeaney
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From: 18 tiwi gdns rd, TIWI NT 0810
Registered: 2005-03-18
Posts: 976

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

If you dig a deep hole, say 2 km deep, and wait until you get enough air pressure and the right balance of Atmospheric gasses, you can step out in the Sun and grow your own food.

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#53 2005-03-20 11:38:58

srmeaney
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From: 18 tiwi gdns rd, TIWI NT 0810
Registered: 2005-03-18
Posts: 976

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

There is one big problem with calcium on Mars. You will be drinking powdered milk. Despite the label, it is different to regular fresh milk. Your kidneys absorb the calcium strait into your Adrenal cortex triggering long term changes in the production of Cortesone and Adrenalin causing abnormal growth of the adrenal cortex. Not only will there be increased agression from such consumption, You will all suffer the onset of Diabetes as a result of excess cortesone output. Your doctor will diagnose one of the three following diseases/symptoms (if not all of them):
1. Gout
2. Diabetes
3. Cushings disease
And because of the damage you have done to your body the increased risk of Cancer by the age of fifty.

Medical research is going to be the big budget item for the next hundred years.

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#54 2005-03-21 09:32:36

Cobra Commander
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From: The outskirts of Detroit.
Registered: 2002-04-09
Posts: 3,039

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

There is one big problem with calcium on Mars. You will be drinking powdered milk.

Goats.


Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.

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#55 2005-03-21 11:32:50

Trebuchet
Banned
From: Florida
Registered: 2004-04-26
Posts: 419

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

No, minature cows.

Some ranchers on earth have been breeding the bovine equivalent of the chihuahua here on earth for unfathomable reasons, but it's a godsend for a Mars mission. They look like normal cows, produce milk and steaks (smaller steaks, but hey...) that taste the same, but are a heck of a lot smaller, and hence consume a lot less stuff as well.

"Moo" beats "Baa" any time of the week for me.

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#56 2005-03-22 04:04:22

srmeaney
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From: 18 tiwi gdns rd, TIWI NT 0810
Registered: 2005-03-18
Posts: 976

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

You are fond of those miniature cows. Down Bessy! Riots over Genetic Engineering of Live Stock aside:

1. What manor of food source do you intend to produce that will make best use of the nitrogen deficient resources available?
2. Will a cow eat algae and snails that have fed off the biological waste produced by colonists?
3. Will you eat algae and snails that have fed of the waste of colonists?
4. Will the GM kids eat it?

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#57 2005-03-26 22:20:24

Trebuchet
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From: Florida
Registered: 2004-04-26
Posts: 419

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

You are fond of those miniature cows. Down Bessy! Riots over Genetic Engineering of Live Stock aside:

1. What manor of food source do you intend to produce that will make best use of the nitrogen deficient resources available?
2. Will a cow eat algae and snails that have fed off the biological waste produced by colonists?
3. Will you eat algae and snails that have fed of the waste of colonists?
4. Will the GM kids eat it?

The mini-cows aren't GM, they're simply bred down for size, much like chihuahuas are not the result of insidious Aztec genetic engineering programs. As for food, I'd favor potatos and corn for raw caloric foodstuffs and a selection of vegetables grown on a much, much smaller scale for proper vitamins and minerals. You don't eat 'all' of a plant, so I'd simply feed the parts of the plants we don't eat to the cows.

Cows are pretty stupid animals and will eat damn near anything, but it's largely irrelevant what the cow eats as it will turn whatever nutrients it gets into beef and other cow bits. I always am amused by the people who use the 'would you eat X that ate Y?' and are trying to get people emotionally disugsted by the idea of eating Y 'indirectly'. Come on, if you ate rich chocolates and filet mignons, would you consider your own feces from such foodstuffs any less disgusting than if it were the product of you eating raw corn and turnips?

However, I'd be feeding the cows leftover plant waste, so it doesn't matter that you're squeamish! As far as algae and snails go, if I have my steak-and-potatos alternative, no, I'll not eat the algae and escargot. I imagine that the GM kids would eat the algae in the form of algin used to make their ice cream more creamy, but not in any other form, at least not willingly.

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#58 2005-03-26 23:11:34

srmeaney
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From: 18 tiwi gdns rd, TIWI NT 0810
Registered: 2005-03-18
Posts: 976

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

1. Mars Children are going to be treated the most brutally. Genetic Abnormals will most likely be knocked on the head and disposed of out of necessity. The touchy-feely crowd may not like that.

2. Most if not all the Astronauts will be negligent Parents. "Have the kids on earth, leave them with others to raise and scarper off to Mars to live My life of untouched freedom" will be the new Parental mantra.

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#59 2005-04-17 15:32:02

quasar777
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Registered: 2002-05-05
Posts: 135

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

1. Mars Children are going to be treated the most brutally. Genetic Abnormals will most likely be knocked on the head and disposed of out of necessity. The touchy-feely crowd may not like that.

2. Most if not all the Astronauts will be negligent Parents. "Have the kids on earth, leave them with others to raise and scarper off to Mars to live My life of untouched freedom" will be the new Parental mantra.

i`ve never seen this mentioned anywhere. but it struck me about 4 yrs ago. it goes like this: Mars being .38g makes for being the "heaviest" relatively habitable body besides Earth. Now, it seems not all but most folks don`t tend to consider The Moon as good for much. but i for one can`t see dooming children born on Mars to that planet forever. so here we go: children born on Mars would have twice their strength on The Moon. & i`m glad someone mentioned danger of children born in microg.

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#60 2005-06-27 15:03:45

Stormrage
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From: United Kingdom, Europe
Registered: 2005-06-25
Posts: 274

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Umm hello everyone forgot about the simple things that all astronauts know. Heavy boots and exerising. I read somewhere that when you exerise you put the stress of your body increases 6 times or something like that. Has soon has kids can run we force them to run alot to make then healthy. We can also give them Lead  boots or other heavy boots and tell teach them to always have a good posture.

The food main food source for everyone would be Chlorella. This algae when dried is 45 percent protein, 20 percent fat, 20 percent sugar, and 10 percent various minerals and vitamins. It also has high amounts of chlorophyll so it photosynthesis ability is really good. We would feed it by giving it our waste has someone has mentioned. It is better to eat of from plants then animals has less energy is lost.


"...all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by."

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#61 2005-09-28 13:17:16

SpaceBull
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Registered: 2005-09-26
Posts: 45

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

I think a high percentage of the first babies born on Mars will die before they are 3 years old, because humans and other mammals are not adapted to the Martian environment. However, this is in a brutal way not necessarily a bad thing because it speeds up the process of evolution and adaptation.

Other mammals like rats may evolve many times as fast though. An average rat has a life span of less than two years, and is able to reproduce when it is only 3 months old. That means that it can go through 4 cycles of evolution and adaptation every single year, and 400 in a human 100-year lifespan. It would take humans 10,000 years to go through the same adaptation process. Genetic engineering of humans based on the genetic changes we observe among generations of rats in a low-gravity environment may not be as crazy as it sounds.


[url=http://www.newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3941]Martian Settlement 2035?[/url]

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#62 2005-10-07 17:50:48

Dook
Banned
From: USA
Registered: 2004-01-09
Posts: 1,409

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

3 year olds dying not necessarily a bad thing?  You're F****** kidding me right?

It amazes me how people forget that we humans have intelligence and we are supposed to use it to make good decisions.  Rushing to colonize mars will just get people killed and regardless of how you think THAT IS A VERY BAD THING. 

We won't send anyone other than scientists until we have extensively tested habitats, power supply units, return vehicles, and domes/greenhouses on mars.

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#63 2005-10-21 18:44:54

evilcitizen
Member
Registered: 2005-09-18
Posts: 21

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

I think SpaceBull is seriously overestimating the "dangers" of babies growing up on Mars "because humans and mammals are not adapted to the Mars environment". I think this is the kind of abstract fear that prevents many kinds of exploration and scientific invention and discovery both on Earth and in space.

Not to mention that I'm sure if there was a possibility of a baby being born there, they would also have medical supplies and facilities for a safe birth.

Infant mortality on Mars would be a global headline and bad publicity, and any government with a Mars presence would do everything they could to prevent it.

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#64 2006-01-19 07:17:25

Eigon
Member
Registered: 2006-01-01
Posts: 21

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Fascinating discussion.
So, assuming the kids make it through infant mortality and hand-me-down clothes and all the other problems mentioned above, there is something that I've been puzzling about for some time.
When these kids come to go to school, and start learning to read, what is it that they will be reading?  It's hard to imagine them responding to Wind in the Willows when they've never seen a river - or a mole or a toad, come to that.
Percy the Parkkeeper might as well be set on an alien planet - in fact, it will be set on an alien planet as far as these kids are concerned.
So, what would kids who live in a dome in the middle of a desert find interesting enough to hold their attention?
And on a tangent, what do ex-pat kids who live in places like Saudi Arabia read now?

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#65 2006-01-19 13:55:54

Grypd
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From: Scotland, Europe
Registered: 2004-06-07
Posts: 1,879

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Mars children will unlikely have hand me down clothes we will simply ensure that some of the animals that are taken as protein sources also can be used for there wool and there is of course the capability to make synthetics.

Education of children on Mars will be in a word Hi-tech, with the advances we see in 3D technology and the definite creation of the Marsnet/Communications net there will be a lot of information available to teach the children. They will be able to see what a virtual forest looks like swim with the fishes etc. This is forseen to be ready in the next 5 years by the time we have a colony on Mars this technology will be old hat.

Kids living in the domes would make what they are interested in as all kids with imagination will do, They will play there games and im sure there will be games that only can be played on Mars. They will be like kids who grow up in small villages anywhere they will at least live in a place where all there needs are catered for with a future wide open for them


Chan eil mi aig a bheil ùidh ann an gleidheadh an status quo; Tha mi airson cur às e.

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#66 2006-08-26 13:35:49

Tom Kalbfus
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Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Just thought I mention something:

ust think of all the things that Martian children will be able to do in their native habitat due to the .38 g.  After all, the low g will make everyone a  "superman," able to perform physical feats that Earth kids can only dream of doing.  Build a decent-sized halfpipe for young skateboarders, and just watch them perform astonishing feats of aerial acrobatics...perhaps the Martian kids will then consider themselves "privilaged" to live in Martian g, as opposed to living in the crushing gravity of Earth.

Children born on Mars will not be "superhuman" compared to Earthling equivalents. Mars children will be exsposed by and large to a .38 gravity for their entire life- their muscles will adapat to that stress (unless extra stress is added)-  which means they will behave in a .38 gravity the same way we behave in a 1.0 gravity. We live in 1.0 so anything less allows us to be stronger than we are- it's like going from 100 pound weights to 38 pound weights- the mars kids will not have the same benefit- thats why they can't come back to Earth- it would be like going from 38 pound weights to 100 pounds for them.

Martians, left to their own, will never be stronger than Earthlings, and Earthlings will have an easier time in their environment.

Also, I'm not quite convinced that children would resent their inability to play certain sports- children are pretty adaptable- define their world and they more often than not find a way to live within that world. We have a hard time imagining life without certain sports or certain games- but these games are just that- games- as long as the fundamental principles of what a game or activity means can be reproduced on Mars, there shouldn't be  any "problems".

The question is, will they infact adapt, is it just environment that determines the amount of muscles or is it genetics? The genes will "want" to make bigger muscles designed for Earth gravity, since such muscles aren't really a disadvantage in dealing with Martian gravity, I don't see those genes disappearing any time soon. It is also not clear that the human body wouldn't adapt if subjected to Earth gravity even if the children were born on Mars. The genes would instruct the body to built a heart and muscles of a certian size regardless of what's needed on Mars. Millions of years of evolution has created bodies designed for Earth, one generation born on Mars is not going to change that.

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#67 2006-08-26 16:31:52

idiom
Member
From: New Zealand
Registered: 2004-04-21
Posts: 312

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Muscles are generally use 'em or lose 'em.

Bed ridden patients have a huge problem of muscle wasting. Muscles (heart included) already adapt to need quite efficiently.


Come on to the Future

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#68 2006-08-26 18:26:25

Tom Kalbfus
Banned
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Likewise, if you exercise them under Earth gravity, they are likely to grow bigger and stronger, people who lift weights have this happen to them. Being subjected to stronger gravity is likely to have the same effect as those Martians lifting weights. The DNA chains are persistant, the mutations required to inalterably adapt to the Martian gravity are going to be slow in coming, and the genes for dealing with Earth gravity are likely to be long in persisting. Muscles may weaken. On the otherhand people living on Mars have rason to utilize their Earth muscles to their full capacity.

The reason they are on Mars is to go out side, to go outside, they need to carry their oxygen and life support system on their back, this is likely to make them weigh at least as much if not more than they did on Earth. If they are going to stay indoors and get weak in the muscles, they might as well not be on Mars in the first place.

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#69 2006-08-26 21:54:56

idiom
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From: New Zealand
Registered: 2004-04-21
Posts: 312

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Human evolution... we tend to bread on really silly things, like on not having melanin or having the fortune to know how to operate bleach. Being strapping and healthy gets you drafted and killed. I don't know that natural selection could possibly operate in that way, before it ever kicked in we would be engineer ourselves into catastrophic blobs, one of many answers to Fermi's paradox.


Come on to the Future

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#70 2006-09-04 11:07:25

Tom Kalbfus
Banned
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Human evolution... we tend to bread on really silly things, like on not having melanin or having the fortune to know how to operate bleach. Being strapping and healthy gets you drafted and killed. I don't know that natural selection could possibly operate in that way, before it ever kicked in we would be engineer ourselves into catastrophic blobs, one of many answers to Fermi's paradox.

They Draft people in your country? They don't in mine.

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#71 2006-09-12 02:49:04

maxie
Banned
From: Europe
Registered: 2005-02-15
Posts: 84

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Interesting topic, I've been thinking myself about these problems.

But how about children safety and colony safety ? For example:

- John, where is Jennifer ?
- In the airlock, mom....
- WHAT ?! JENIFFER, DON'T TOUCH THAT -- *noise of air leaking outside*

or:
- I wonder John, what does this button do ?
- I don't know, let's press it... *alarms raising across entire colony*

Etc.

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#72 2006-09-12 08:39:03

Tom Kalbfus
Banned
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Children will have to be watched closely and children mostly learn what not to do. On Earth Jennifer could have run out in the middle of the street and get hit by a car, these things happen, the key is teaching your children how to be safe and installing child proof safety locks in the airlocks for children who are too young to learn. These issues are the same on both Earth and Mars, it is the specific dangers that are different only.

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#73 2006-09-12 12:08:54

maxie
Banned
From: Europe
Registered: 2005-02-15
Posts: 84

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Well yes, on Earth when you let your kid out to play, there is no possible danger to kill the entire city. But on Mars...  :shock:

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#74 2006-09-14 08:51:15

Tom Kalbfus
Banned
Registered: 2006-08-16
Posts: 4,401

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

Well yes, on Earth when you let your kid out to play, there is no possible danger to kill the entire city. But on Mars...  :shock:

What sort of explosive do you let your child play with?

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#75 2006-09-14 11:59:56

maxie
Banned
From: Europe
Registered: 2005-02-15
Posts: 84

Re: Children growing up on Mars - ..problems and possible solutions...

What sort of explosive do you let your child play with?

Maybe some C4, if I had any kids.

But that wasn't the point. On Mars you don't need to have any C4 laying around, a press of a button somewhere is enough.

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