7 Sci-Fi Stories in which Biomass Saves Humanity's Ass

October 14 2008 / by John Heylin / In association with Future Blogger.net
Category: Biotechnology   Year: 2008   Rating: 5 Hot

There’s an interesting post over at the Energy Roadmap titled Investors betting on biological future for biofuels – We can ‘grow’ energy!.

It got me thinking — is our salvation really in the hands of these small microbials? Do science fiction writers have it right?

War of the Worlds An invasion of Martians threaten to obliterate humanity. Humans are forced to run, unable to combat the technologically advanced tripods the Martians are manning. All seems lost until tripods start falling down for unknown reasons. Eventually, all the Martians have died due to a lack of immunities against Earth’s bacteria.

Red Planet Earth, due to overpopulation and pollution, has seeded Mars with oxygen-producing algae in the hope of being able to eventually move to the planet. Astronauts are sent to the planet to find out why oxygen production has stalled and discover a native bug which feeds on the algae and produces oxygen. Running out of air, the astronauts remove their helmets expecting to die but find oxygen.

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