'Hey Bill Nye, If Humans Colonize Mars, How Will We Evolve?’ #TuesdaysWithBill | Big Think

'Hey Bill Nye, If Humans Colonize Mars, How Will We Evolve?'

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On July 30th, 2016, Cracked.com released a short animation on its Youtube channel explaining why space travel is one of the worst things that can happen to the human body. Though Star Trek calls it the final frontier, it is not a frontier that is begging to be travelled. Space is hard. Unlike going out on a hike, when something goes wrong for an astronaut, it goes deadly wrong. There is no army to send for back up, it is not a wave pool that one can just walk out of. If there’s a crack in the ship, the human body is in for it.

And even if the ship that takes us to space works perfectly, there are other problems. As Cracked points out, "Space will destroy your body." In simplest terms, staying in zero gravity for too long causes many medical problems, from blood collecting behind the eyes, a skeleton that is slowly falling to bits, and a spherical heart. So staying in space for any long-term period isn’t a healthy idea.

But there is the dream of colonizing another planet. Bill Nye, science educator and author, has a few precautions about actually taking on Mars. It could be similar, but many times worse, to the base currently in Antarctica. The cold continent is very hard to live on. Despite the penguins and seals that readily live on the shores, there are huge chunks of it that haven’t had precipitation in a hundred years, it’s just a blank place with no food or water. That would be like living on Mars, but with the singular bonus of having gravity to prevent the Charlie Brown Effect that astronauts deal with. Nye also refers to an upcoming film, called The Space Between Us, which brings up a pretty decent point. If someone were to be born on a planet like Mars, many things could happen to that body, including a heart of a different strength, which would make it difficult to ever come back to Earth. Bill Nye doesn’t see Mars colonization happening, but even by an enthusiastic estimate, we’re way off being able to inhabit the red planet.

Bill Nye's most recent book is Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World.

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BILL NYE:

Bill Nye, scientist, engineer, comedian, author, and inventor, is a man with a mission: to help foster a scientifically literate society, to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining and accessible is something Bill has been doing most of his life.

In Seattle Nye began to combine his love of science with his flair for comedy, when he won the Steve Martin look-alike contest and developed dual careers as an engineer by day and a stand-up comic by night. Nye then quit his day engineering day job and made the transition to a night job as a comedy writer and performer on Seattle’s home-grown ensemble comedy show “Almost Live.” This is where “Bill Nye the Science Guy®” was born. The show appeared before Saturday Night Live and later on Comedy Central, originating at KING-TV, Seattle’s NBC affiliate.

While working on the Science Guy show, Nye won seven national Emmy Awards for writing, performing, and producing. The show won 18 Emmys in five years. In between creating the shows, he wrote five children’s books about science, including his latest title, “Bill Nye’s Great Big Book of Tiny Germs.”

Nye is the host of three currently-running television series. “The 100 Greatest Discoveries” airs on the Science Channel. “The Eyes of Nye” airs on PBS stations across the country.

Bill’s latest project is hosting a show on Planet Green called “Stuff Happens.” It’s about environmentally responsible choices that consumers can make as they go about their day and their shopping. Also, you’ll see Nye in his good-natured rivalry with his neighbor Ed Begley. They compete to see who can save the most energy and produce the smallest carbon footprint. Nye has 4,000 watts of solar power and a solar-boosted hot water system. There’s also the low water use garden and underground watering system. It’s fun for him; he’s an engineer with an energy conservation hobby.

Nye is currently the Executive Director of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space interest organization.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Victor: Hey Bill. My name is Victor and I’m from Markham, Ontario. The question I have for you this Tuesday pertains to human evolution and space colonization. I understand that humans are constantly evolving to adapt to...

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