Chinese scientists investigate moss to make Mars habitable
A futuristic study conducted by Chinese scientists has shed light on the potential of using moss to transform Mars's barren red landscape into a lush green environment. Scientists have recently found that Syntrichia caninervis, a desert moss that thrives in various extreme environments on Earth, is a promising pioneer plant for colonizing extraterrestrial environments. The study, conducted by researchers from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), the National Space Science Center, and the Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was recently published in the journal The Innovation. Syntrichia caninervis is a globally distributed moss species that flourishes in harsh deserts, mountainous regions and circumpolar regions. It forms part of the biological soil crust. Using samples from the Gurbantunggut Desert in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, one of the most concentrated distributions of Syntrichia caninervis, the rese...