“The article’s basic mistake is in thinking Mars is a closed system. But no planet is a closed system.”
Terraforming, counterpoint…
Whither terraforming?
Humans love the idea of a rebel. But only the idea. Take action too far outside the box of current experience and you begin to hear the Greek Chorus of naysayers heckling you, gleefully glomming onto anything that might pull you back within accepted norms.
Such has been the case recently regarding a paper in the journal Nature Astronomy, which reported that there does not appear to be enough CO2 on Mars to allow for terraforming. I can’t count the number of articles that have floated through my various feeds starting with the mocking phrase “Sorry Elon…” Google it yourself and see what I mean.
Martian dust
Mars is a dusty place. Researchers now think much of this dust comes from a single feature on the surface. Overview below. Original article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-05291-5
Why is Mars small?
Here’s an article on the formation of the Solar System and why Mars is smaller than expected.
It’s interesting that Mars is small. It’s interesting to think about the formation of the Solar System. But what I find particularly compelling is the description of three distinct hypotheses, each just as likely to be correct as the others.
The Planetary Society