Existential crises, not curiosity, will force humans to become a multi-planetary species one day, experts told the two-day Dubai Future Forum.
A panel at the Museum of the Future addressed the way ahead for the space industry.
Billionaire Elon Musk has plans to colonise Mars and hopes to send a million people there by 2050.
Space agencies such as Nasa have plans to send astronauts to Mars, while the UAE set a goal of building a settlement there by 2117.
But a panellist at the event predicted that the kind of investment that is needed to colonise Mars would only come when humans on Earth face an existential crisis.
It will be war, disease, climate or famine. These existential threats are what I think would accelerate us to look to live on another planet
Mark Beer of Asgardia
Mark Beer, of Asgardia, an international project that is trying to set up a space nation, said environmental and health crises could drive that transition.
“Elon Musk thinks it's going to be a billion people living on Mars by the end of the century but what will be the accelerator? What will drive this transition to be living on Mars?” he said.
“Unfortunately, I predict it to be an existential event. It will not happen organically.
“It will be war, disease, climate or famine. These existential threats are what I think would force us to look at living on another planet.”
Astrophysicists have often criticised Mr Musk’s plans for Mars, saying that the planet has a hostile environment.
Terraforming — a process that changes a planet's conditions so it becomes habitable — has been suggested as a solution to making the Red Planet suitable for humans, but that could take millions of years.
There have also been calls for billionaires to invest in healing Earth from climate change instead of spending billions on trying to colonise other planets.
“What we're hearing is the challenge of cost — the cost of moving organic matter into another planet or transporting the infrastructure that we can build on another planet,” Mr Beer said.
“If we look back in history, at the point of which the maximum investment has been made financially in changing the world, it tends to come out of existential threats.
“The Second World War gave us the first electric computer … it gave us a 125,000-person nuclear programme to create an atom bomb,” he said.
“And that's why I think for space, it will not come out of that organic discussion, but the need.”
However, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed before humans can colonise Mars, including deadly radiation, cold and an unbreathable atmosphere.
Diego Urbina, team lead of future projects and exploration at a company called Space Application Services, said “we’re on the right track” for achieving those goals.
“I believe we’re taking the right steps — we’re lowering the cost of access to space with reusable rockets, which is quite important,” he said.
“And we're also creating this space economy that will make it more feasible to have these future space settlements. So I think we're on the right track, but it’ll take few decades to be able to get there.”
He said a lot more investment is needed to further accelerate the process.
The Dubai Future Forum concludes on Wednesday.
Dubai Future Forum 2022 - in pictures
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes
ACL Elite (West) - fixtures
Monday, Sept 30
Al Sadd v Esteghlal (8pm)
Persepolis v Pakhtakor (8pm)
Al Wasl v Al Ahli (8pm)
Al Nassr v Al Rayyan (10pm)
Tuesday, Oct 1
Al Hilal v Al Shorta (10pm)
Al Gharafa v Al Ain (10pm)
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India cancels school-leaving examinations
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
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The five pillars of Islam
MATCH INFO
England 241-3 (20 ovs)
Malan 130 no, Morgan 91
New Zealand 165 all out (16.5ovs)
Southee 39, Parkinson 4-47
England win by 76 runs
Series level at 2-2
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
