That's basically *the entire surface of the planet* being poisonous - not just to us, but plant life too. Even if the temperature, pressure, radiation and various other human biology problems are solved, this alone will be a super-hard thing to fix:
sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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Sep 22, 2026 · 9:46 PM UTC
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But as that paper says - not impossible!
Organisms could be tweaked or engineered to convert (ie. eat) perchlorates into harmless chemicals.
Many toxin eaters exist - like the life recently discovered in fog that eats poisonous formaldehyde: everythingisamazing.substack…
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So, CAN it be done?
Maybe - but it'd take time. Maybe a lot of time. Maybe centuries of biological action?
We're not just instantly rocking up and getting building like a good city-builder game. It's going to be one hell of a challenge for (distant?) future colonists.
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Anyway, there's more than enough stuff in the real world (and universe beyond it) that's absolutely real AND mind-blowingly cool.
If you think so too, you might find my newsletter mostly tolerable*. It's free to sign up:
everythingisamazing.substack…
*Yes, I'm British.
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Since this blew up and I'm getting a fair amount of assumptions flung my way:
- I'm not saying a Mars colony is impossible. I don't know that, & as a space enthusiast, I wouldn't want to believe it.
- I don't think it should be Fix Earth vs Explore Space. Doing both is possible!
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Also, if anyone wants to read about those formaldehyde-guzzling fog microbes without having to click through to my newsletter, this might help:
I don't want to alarm you, but it turns out John Carpenter was right: THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE FOG.
But it turns out it's here to help us!
Welcome to the fascinating new science of smog-chomping bacteria, fog harvesting and hyper-quick ecosystems.
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