Will Mars Create a New Species of Human? with Scott Solomon

What happens when we start birthing babies on Mars? Might a Martian human become unable to survive on Earth because of differences in microbes and gravity? How much of your body is shaped by the details of this planet? Will radiation accelerate human evolution on Mars? Could living on Mars eventually create a new species of human? Could Mars change the way humans dream? Would a Martian child find Earth’s oceans as strange and awe-inspiring as we find another planet? Could two branches of humanity become too different to recognize each other? Today we’re joined by Scott Solomon, evolutionary biologist and author of the book “Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds”.

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Scott Solomon (2026). Becoming Martian: How Living in Space Will Change Our Bodies and Minds. MIT Press.

Solomon, S. (2026). Will Settling Space Lead to the Evolution of a New Human Species?. In: Carberry, C., Zucker, R. (eds) A Future Spacefaring Society. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-11466-2_26

David Eagleman (2020). Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain. Pantheon.

David Eagleman & Don Vaughn. Why Do We Dream? A New Theory on How It Protects Our Brains. Time Magazine.

Eagleman DM, Vaughn DA. The defensive activation theory: REM sleep as a mechanism to prevent takeover of the visual cortex. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 2021 May 21;15:632853.

New center for science communication at Rice University: SCOPE.

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