Mars and the Meaning of Life

I have been a science fiction fan for years starting I think with Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Mars series. The idea of humans living on other planets was intriguing. Burroughs was inspired by the wishful observations of Percival Lowell who’s academic wishful thinking inspired the world. I also enjoyed the Pelucidar series but knew that a hollow earth was beyond the realm of possibility. An inhabited Mars did indeed seem to be a possibility however. We now know that Lowell’s canals were optical illusions but it would appear that there are canyons formed by water on Mars. I graduated to Asimov’s foundation trilogy, an entire universe and thousands of earth-like planets inhabited by man. This was followed by Frank Herbert’s Dune series with a similar scenario.

During my brief adventure into organized spirituality, New Thought, I found that there was a belief that the universe was full of intelligent beings, all the creation of some "Higher Power". Once again, wishful thinking I suspect.

As we learn more about this planet we live on we begin to understand how unique it is. It is the right distance from the sun to allow liquid water. It has an atmosphere. It has a liquid iron core that creates a magnetic field. The magnetic field is the key here, without it there would be no atmosphere and without an atmosphere no liquid water. The magnetic field deflects the solar wind, which would otherwise blow the atmosphere away. Mars probably had a liquid core and a magnetic field in the past. That would account for the liquid water features we see on its surface today. Mars is smaller than earth so it’s liquid core has solidified, no magnetic field, so atmosphere.

The earth is indeed unique and although there may be millions and billions of planets in the universe there may not be many, if any like the earth. Don't hold your breath waiting for little green men, there are probably not any any but if there are they may be looking for a new home because their planet cooled and the air went away.