Originally published on 11 September, 2015

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested Wednesday on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert that Mars could be “terraformed” through nuclear strikes to destroy its polar ice caps. Terraforming is the hypothetical process of altering a planet’s environment to make it capable of supporting terrestrial lifeforms.The average temperature on Mars is similar to that of Antarctica in winter. Destroying the poles may warm the planet, but scientists told the Los Angeles Times that this may not warm Mars enough and could also lead to unknown changes in its terrain.Another method Musk suggested would be heating the planet through greenhouse gases, but this also faces problems as Mars’ current levels of carbon dioxide are potentially suitable for plants, but poisonous to animals.

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