Dr. Afshin Khan: Crops on Mars

by Emily Harari Every 4th of July, many Americans turn their gaze to the night sky. From a pop of color and a quick clap like thunder, fireworks unveil themselves. In addition to gunpowder, a lesser known ingredient called perchlorates are responsible for the mesmerizing explosions. Perchlorates are salts containing an ion called perchlorate – a chlorine atom bonded to four oxygen atoms. These salts can serve as oxidants for fireworks and explosives, but also can be toxic to living […]

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Radio New Zealand: Mission to Mars

Is Mars colonization doomed from the start? Our own Haritina Mogosanu discusses the limitations of such efforts in an interview with Radio New Zealand National. With her personal expertise in horticulture, Mogosanu discusses the implications of a recent study that critiques the Mars One projects as technologically premature. Food production provides one of the key limiting factors, and the new study suggests that colonists would start dying after only a few months of residence on the red planet. Mogosanu concurs […]

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