scientists say man-made ‘glitter’ particles can warm mars and make it habitable like earth

Glitter dust particles can produce greenhouse effect on mars

Scientists at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Central Florida have proposed manufacturing glitter-like particles using soil from Mars and launching them into the atmosphere to warm the red planet and make it habitable for people just like Earth. In the study the group published on August 7th, 2024, the researchers state that it’s possible to engineer dust particles shaped like short rods and similar in size, if not tinier, to commercially available glitter.

Once launched into the atmosphere, these dust particles, which are made of iron and aluminum, can trap the heat escaping from the red planet and reflect sunlight toward its surface. In this way, Mars can produce its natural greenhouse effect and potentially warm the red planet by more than 50 degrees Fahrenheit (around 10 degrees Celsius). From here, the temperature can still rise until Mars becomes suitable for microbial life, which the researchers deem a crucial first step to making the planet habitable like Earth.

image by NASA/JPL/MSSS, via Northwestern University and University of Chicago

Martial soil is rich in iron and aluminum

Before the published study, the researchers said that the dust on Mars is rich in iron and aluminum, as gathered by rovers like NASA’s Curiosity. While this material can’t trap heat on its own, the scientists have hypothesized that if these particles can be engineered to have different shapes or compositions, they may be able to produce a natural greenhouse effect on the red planet’s surface to kick off its heating.

The group claims that it’s not the first time researchers have attempted to bring up the heat on Mars using greenhouse gases. One of the proposed solutions was to bring resources from Earth to Mars, but it was too expensive to be sustainable. The current researchers of the study add that by engineering glitter-like dust particles made of Martian soil, which has iron and aluminum, it may be cheaper and more feasible to live off the land using materials from the red planet.

an artist’s impression of hypothetical phases in the terraforming of Mars | image courtesy by Daein Ballard/ Wikipedia, via Northwestern University

Reflective nanorods for a habitable mars

Once the engineers fabricate these glitter-like reflective nanorods from Martian soil, the launching takes place via ground-based fountains. The scientists picture these tools being propelled to the surface of Mars, where the dust particles would be released and circulated around the planet. These particles would then reflect the incoming sunlight onto the surface of the red planet until it warms and becomes livable enough for people.

‘It turns out from the calculations that our team has done that the random scattering of these particles will cause a strong enough greenhouse effect to warm large swaths of the Martian surface,’ says planetary scientist Ramses Ramirez from the University of Central Florida team. The study could be breakthrough research, and the scientists urge other researchers to consider the feasibility of their method and even take it further.

The nature of the study may still be theoretical and relies on modeling, but the scientists believe that other researchers and engineers can use this knowledge to conduct further experiments and help explore making Mars habitable for people and architecture. ‘This could be a great starting point,’ Ramses Ramirez adds.

the researchers state that it’s possible to engineer dust particles shaped like short rods to warm Mars