[Curiosities] Humans could create the atmosphere on Mars

[Alcooliks ;x]

A famous British biologist, James Lovelock, proposed some time ago the endowment of the planet Mars with an atmosphere of… carbon dioxide, which would be produced by special bacteria, created by genetic engineering, on Earth. The greenhouse effect, which threatens us with rising planetary ocean levels, would be beneficial on Mars, as it would cause the glaciers to partially melt and naturally provide the water needed by plants.

But wouldn't the spread of bacteria in the Martian environment take too long? No, the math of reproduction would answer.

Normal bacteria reproduce, by fragmentation, every 20 minutes, ie 72 times a day. Assuming that the bacteria taken to Mars, which could feed on one of the gases in the Martian atmosphere and release carbon dioxide, would only multiply 10 times a day, the results would be amazing. Thus, from an initial ton of bacteria, in a world where there is no biological competition, in a single day would result 1000 tons of bacteria. In five days, the layer of bacteria that would cover the entire surface of Mars - 145 million square kilometers - would be one meter thick!

Of course, this will not really be the case, because at some point, each new generation of bacteria would be affected by the residual products of the previous generation.