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Scott Solomon - Five Way Interview

Scott Solomon is a biologist, professor, and science communicator. He teaches ecology, evolutionary biology, and scientific communication as a Teaching Professor at Rice University in Houston. Dr Solomon is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History , and the author of Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds.

Why science?

To me, the appeal of science has always been about understanding the world around us. Science gives us a way to address big questions like 'Where did we come from?' But it also helps us to make useful predictions about the future– everything from what the weather will be like tomorrow to what will eventually become of our species?

Why this book?

As an evolutionary biologist, I am intrigued by the fact that we are at a point in which for the first time some people may soon be truly living on other planets. I wanted to explore what we know about how people will be affected by the conditions on other worlds and how future generations may adapt and evolve there. 

I also wanted to help readers to understand not only what we know about these questions but also how we know it. My approach was to take people along on a journey – to visit the front lines of research and technology development for living in space and to tell the stories of the people who are working toward making humans multiplanetary and helping us understand what will become of them.

Ultimately, I also wanted to spark a conversation about whether we are ready for all this. While we have learned a lot in the last six decades about how being in space affects the human body and mind, there is still a lot we still do not know. For example, can we grow food on the moon or Mars? Can we reproduce in lower gravity? Could a child born on Mars come to Earth? Until we have answers to questions like these, I think it is premature to move forward with creating settlements on the moon, Mars, or elsewhere. 

How do you think a move to Mars may influence human culture?

Any time that a small number of individuals– whether humans or another species– migrates to a new place, it leads to changes. If the new place has a different environment, then it typically leads to evolutionary changes. The more isolated the new place is, the more likely the new arrivals are to evolve into a new species. This happens regularly with islands, which is why biologists since Darwin have studied plants and animals on islands like the Galapagos to understand evolution. 

In addition to biological changes, people living on Mars are likely to develop their own culture. They will eat different types of foods (mostly plants), play different sports (low gravity will make these quite interesting), and may develop new languages, religions, and holidays. They will judge the passage of time in different ways, since a day on Mars is about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth, months on Earth are tied to lunar cycles (Mars has two moons), and a year on Mars is about twice as long as an Earth year. Future generations born on Mars may feel less connected to their Earthly origins, much as immigrants to new nations begin to feel less of an affiliation with the countries of their grandparents. In short, people on Mars will become Martian. 

What’s next?

NASA has plans to build a base on the moon within the next decade. Their goal is to learn how to build infrastructure and how to live off the land so that a human outpost can then be established on Mars. China has similar plans, and so do some private companies like SpaceX. If any of these efforts are successful, there could be humans living on Mars within the lifetimes of people alive today. We have a lot to learn about what will happen to these people and, if they have children there, what will become of future generations. 

What’s exciting you at the moment?

NASA’s Artemis II mission, in which four astronauts flew around the Moon, was a very exciting moment for human space exploration. Not only was it the first time any people have been near the Moon since 1972, it was also the first time a woman, a person of colour, and a non-American have been near the Moon. And all four crewmembers traveled deeper into space than any humans have ever been. There was tremendous public engagement and interest in the mission, which has not generally happened with spaceflight in recent years. 

What’s more, there was some fascinating science on board. One experiment, called AVATAR, involves stem cells collected from each of the four astronauts that were kept alive on a small device throughout the mission. By comparing these cells with identical versions that remained on Earth, researchers can examine the ways in which the conditions of deep space (such as exposure to higher levels of solar radiation and galactic cosmic rays) affect individual people. Future missions to the Moon, Mars, or beyond could include a similar device and allow researchers to study how our bodies will be affected by the journey without having to send actual people.

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