Mars has been a talk among many space enthusiasts over many years. It even became a popular interest among entrepreneurs, investors, and investors like Elon Musk. Recently, Computational social scientists at George Mason University have revealed something exciting. Simulations suggest that only 22 people are required to start a colony! Not just that, the scientists also discovered the types of personalities that are best suited to building the Mars colony. Let’s dive in!
The group of scientists have posted their simulations on arXiv. They found that personality types that are agreeable, sociable, reactive, and neurotic can make the settlement on Mars a success. They have given the four personalities on the basis of resilience and coping skills. The simulations of the model assume 28 Earth years of colony life.
“We also found that the agreeable personality type was the one more likely to survive. The stress caused by accidents, as well as from interacting with other settlers, takes a toll, and agreeable personality types were assessed to be the most enduring for the long term, whereas neurotics showed least adaptation capacity,” says the team from their findings.
The research also says that people with neurotic personalities are more likely to fail their mission than others. Another surprising thing is the success of building a colony is in a number as fewer as 22. Not in hundreds or thousands. The scientists have used Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) for their simulations and answered all the questions of future Martians.
The researchers also use data from humans in other high-stress remote situations. Even from the groups in the International Space Station (ISS).
The model assumes Mars settlers have food, air, and the basics required for their settlement. So, technically they assumed the colonizing population didn’t need time to start up everything. The study also takes the presence of a nuclear generator to produce electricity for 7 years. However, it might be, that the study seems to present some exciting and never-before-thought suggestions.
Conclusion
Recently, Computational social scientists at George Mason University have revealed something exciting. Simulations suggest that only 22 people are required to start a colony! Not just that, the scientists also discovered the types of personalities that are best suited to building the Mars colony. The study has some surprising suggestions and simulations generated from Agent-Based Modeling (ABM).
Journal Reference:
Edgar Arguello et al, An Exploration of Mars Colonization with Agent-Based Modeling
arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2308.05916
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