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> Put differently, events that can destroy life on a multiple planets are much less common than those than can destroy life on one. That doesn't strike me as i
by ttymck 3y ago
> Put differently, events that can destroy life on a multiple planets are much less common than those than can destroy life on one.
That doesn't strike me as intuitively true. More numerous perhaps, but I don't know that gamma ray irradiation isn't 1000x more likely than an asteroid impact. Light waves would seem, intuitively, more far reaching than a solid mass.
- somenameforme 3y agoAs mentioned elsewhere, even from this event Mars would have been safe. The main hypothesis for what the gamma ray burst did was basically wreck the atmosphere and ozone, exposing everything to massive radiation and starting a domino effect. But on Mars you're already ambiently exposed to high levels of dangerous radiation, and the atmosphere (for what there is) is highly toxic. So life will have to develop in a way such that it cannot depend on the atmosphere, and protection from ambient radiation is a daily part of life. In all probability a gamma ray burst event on a Mars colony would be relatively harmless.
- throwaway290 3y agoYeah, I was wrong on this I think.