Lifeless Planets Society is a podcast that takes outlandish concepts about the way to tinker with the cosmos – from snapping the moon in half to inflicting a gravitational wave apocalypse – and topics them to the legal guidelines of physics to see how they fare. Hear on Apple, Spotify or on our podcast page.

Emotions about Mars run robust within the planetary science group – many adore it due to how a lot we find out about it, whereas others resent the overwhelming consideration it has obtained on the expense of different worlds in our photo voltaic system. However on this episode of Lifeless Planets Society, sentiment doesn’t get in the way in which of the central purpose: completely wrecking the Purple Planet.

On this episode, Mars’s very redness might show its demise. The crimson hue of Martian soil comes from iron oxide, and iron’s magnetic properties impressed our hosts, Chelsea Whyte and Leah Crane, to discover the potential for destroying Mars with big orbiting magnets.

Iron oxide itself will not be magnetic, however Mars does have a core of liquid iron. Our hosts are joined this episode by volcanologist Robin George Andrews to think about how an enormous magnet would have an effect on this core.

Relying on the orbit of the large magnet, the core might be merely disturbed a lot that it will slosh round, inflicting fissures and volcanism and possibly finally the whole disintegration of the planet. Or it might be pulled from deep underground by way of pre-existing vents, like these on the high of the large Martian volcano Olympus Mons.

When it reaches area, the liquid iron would freeze right into a glittering metallic statue. A lot of it’d accumulate on the magnet itself, turning it right into a form of monumental iron-shielded bullet hurtling by way of the photo voltaic system.

Within the course of, Mars could be left hole. This alone could be a significant issue for the planet, resulting in the outer layers crunching and grinding collectively to fill the empty area. Or the area might be stuffed with one thing else – the probabilities are infinite and doubtlessly really disturbing.