A recent preprint paper examines the minimum number of people required to maintain a feasible settlement on Mars while accounting for psychological and behavioral factors, specifically in emergency situations. This study was conducted by a team of data scientists from George Mason University and holds the potential to help researchers better understand the appropriate conditions …

  • Worx@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    127
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    I saw a documentary about this - you actually only need one person as long as they like eating potatoes

  • revs@feddit.uk
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    71
    ·
    1 year ago

    “In the end, they determined that a minimum colony population of 22 agents was ideal to maintain a feasible Mars mining colony over the long-term.”

  • Minarble@aussie.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    ·
    1 year ago

    Does that include the mad eco terrorist/saviour stow away who kick starts terra forming Mars then founds his own colony on the South Pole?

  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    36
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Presumably some of them would have to be female, making a Mars colony settled entirely by muskies unviable.

  • NeoNachtwaechter@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 year ago

    You want a colony consisting only of fanatics? Then 22 may be the number. It’s going to be 22 very different types, and every one of them has to decide every day that this is going to last long…

    If you want a colony consisting of normal people that lasts for long, then you need thousands. Humans need a lot diversity before they can be normal and stay healthy.

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Considering humanity was knocked down to about 1200 people about 800,000 years ago and we survived without any technology to speak of, let alone genetic testing that would help determine maximum diversity, I’d say you might be surprised.

      • ahornsirup@artemis.camp
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 year ago

        That assumes that everyone will be willing to have children with just about anyone, regardless of their personal opinion of them, and regardless of whether or not they even want children to begin with. You can’t selectively breed humans without massive human rights violations.

    • AEsheron@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I recall a similar study years ago. They concluded 32 was minimal viable, assuming a strict breeding regiment over several generations, with 8 men and 24 women. They also concluded about 500 would be the smallest practical size, given people aren’t robots and losing even a couple people before leaving the breeding pool would be very bad. That was a fundamentally different study though, looking at long term, self sufficiency. This one seems more focused on an Antarctica like outpost that would be able to cycle people in and out, and not establishing a full on colony.

    • wahming@monyet.cc
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      It’s not about building a local population on Mars that will populate the planet, it’s about the bare minimum to operate an outpost with regular supply drops from earth and replacement personnel in case of fatalities.

    • muntedcrocodile@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      I hate to be a hater but this is quite possibly the most depressing outlook on life there is. Its like saying “we cant even be proper hunter gathers. Why are me trying this farming thing”. Is it not in human nature to climb one mountain just to look to the next?

    • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      1 year ago

      We can’t even look after earth.

      You seem to have answered your own question.

      • Uncle_Bagel
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        There is nothing short of the moon falling to the Earth that can make Mars a more viable place for humans than the Earth.

    • supercriticalcheese@feddit.it
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Well that’s a reason.

      At the moment with current technology, colonising other planets in the solar system is unsustainable without a lot of effort from earth so I doubt anything will come out of it in the near term.

  • Chickenstalker@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    29
    ·
    1 year ago

    No colonising please. Leave that nonsense to the Age of Sail. By all means, have a science outpost but no permanent and growing settlements, no terraforming, no farming, no mining. We have our own planet and other worlds are not our “manifest destiny to conquer”. We must be the Watchers, not the Contangion. Humanity should go to the stars to explore but not to destroy it in our image. Create any permanent settlements on Mars and wars and misery will soon follow.

    • Nelsonat0r@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      You can’t stop it. Not only because of the resources but also as a way of continuing our existence. It’s just a matter of time.

      • PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Humans could be about to ruin whatever was supposed to survive on Mars in a couple million of years. We’ve disrupted our own planet, and are about to destroy another one. And honestly, we’re not all that great as a species.