Categories: News

Scientists grow fresh produce in Mars-like conditions

Orange skies, hurricanes, and a global pandemic do not make Earth seem like the most welcoming place for humans. But if the Earth becomes truly uninhabitable, and humans flee to Mars, what will our species eat? Fresh produce, reports The Takeout. Mars has less than ideal conditions for farming. There’s jarringly cold temperatures, no water to be found, and close to no oxygen in the atmosphere. Also the red soil is full of iron oxide: not what you look for in a lettuce farm. Yet a team of Dutch scientists successfully grew 10 different crops in iron-heavy soil during a simulation designed to replicate Mars. And according to the lead scientist, the lab-grown tomatoes were impressively sweet. 

Related Post
The Counter
Share
Published by
The Counter
Tags: farmingMars

Recent Posts

Grist acquires The Counter and launches food and agriculture vertical

Grist, an award-winning, nonprofit media organization dedicated to highlighting climate solutions and uncovering environmental injustices,…

7 months ago

Is California giving its methane digesters too much credit?

Every year, California dairy farms emit hundreds of thousands of tons of the potent greenhouse…

3 years ago

Your car is killing coho salmon

Highway 7 runs north-south through western Washington, carving its way through a landscape sparsely dotted…

3 years ago

The pandemic has transformed America’s dining landscape into an oligopoly dominated by chains 

One of the greatest pleasures I had as a child growing up in the Chicago…

3 years ago

California is moving toward food assistance for all populations—including undocumented immigrants

Undocumented immigrants experience food insecurity at much higher rates than other populations, yet they are…

3 years ago

Babka, borscht … and pumpkin spice? Two writers talk about Jewish identity through contemporary cookbooks.

Writer Charlotte Druckman and editor Rebecca Flint Marx are both Jewish journalists living in New…

3 years ago