Ever since scientists have predicted the possibility of life on Mars, companies around the world have started preparing to colonize the 'red planet.' People have also shown enthusiasm for giving a go to this unusual housing alternative as it helps them escape our already crowded planet and the ever rising global temperatures.
A Netherland-based company "Mars One" has already asked people to submit applications to be a part of their one-way mission to Mars.
More companies are expected to follow the crazy trend following media reports that habitable conditions on planet Earth will persist for at least another 1.75 billion years and perhaps as much as 3.5 billion years.
The new study conducted by astrobiologists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) determined the Earth's lifespan based on the rate of rising temperatures of the Sun.
The scientists claim that beyond this projected time, life on Earth will not be able to survive due to the high temperatures of the Sun, which will eventually lead to drying up of seas and destruction of all the possible life forms.
"After this point, the Earth would be in the hot zone of the Sun, with temperatures so high that the seas would evaporate. We would see a catastrophic and terminal extinction event for all life,"said Andrew Rushby, a researcher at the university. "If we ever needed to move to another planet, Mars is probably our best bet. It's very close and will remain in the habitable zone until the end of the Sun's lifetime - six billion years from now."
Rushby also said that humans would be the first species that will cease to exist, well before the 1.75 billion-year predicted time.
"Humans would be in trouble with even a small increase in temperature and near the end only microbes in niche environments would be able to endure the heat," said Rushby. "To date, no true Earth analogue planet has been detected. But it is possible that there will be a habitable Earth-like planet within ten light years, which is very close in astronomical terms. However, reaching it would take hundreds of thousands of years with our current technology."
