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Giant condoms of Mars
  (+14, -1)(+14, -1)
(+14, -1) 		  [vote for,
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Trees and plants could be cultivated on Mars but for the cold. Maybe this device can help. Essentially it is like a large rolled up condom that fits over the plant. As the plant grows the condom slowly unrolls creating a greenhouse that is just the right size for the plant, trapping heat and condensation. The green house is perforated to allow CO2 in and oxygen out.
—simonj, Jul 22 2009

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       Does Mars have any CO2 in it's practically nonexistent atmosphere? Also, the plants are not gonna have nearly as much fun with a condom on.
—daseva, Jul 22 2009
   

       Yep it's 95.32% CO2
—simonj, Jul 22 2009
   

       Oh. cool! +
—daseva, Jul 22 2009
   

       ... and Femidoms of Venus, with perforations for Virgina Jam?
—Dub, Jul 22 2009
   

       Manzanita Magnums ?
—normzone, Jul 22 2009
   

       Not sure that trees would be the easiest things to grow on Mars. I'd guess that moss or ferns would be easier to grow.
—Aristotle, Jul 22 2009
   

       Fourex ferns?
—normzone, Jul 22 2009
   

       I don't suppose pollination would happen with bees there. Where does it get its moisture from?
—RayfordSteele, Jul 22 2009
   

       This is actually a pretty nifty idea. It would be better using clear plastic wrap, which would be crinkled accordion style around the seedling and fixed to a ring staked to the ground. It should be for plants with a vertical growth habit. The GCOM would also discourage bugs and rabbits. You would want to do this with a plant that could lift the GCOM up as it grew. A grafted tree or flower grown from bulb would have the push. Not sure about a puny seedling.
—bungston, Jul 22 2009
   

       A few years ago, I had the idea to design Mars components with clear plastic parachutes, and clear plastic airbag balloons. These would then be used as miniature greenhouses to hold lichens, and snow algae, which, I believe, are pretty close to capable of surviving in the dry, thin air of Mars as is.
—ye_river_xiv, Jul 22 2009
   

       Isn't this a solution without a problem? Places on mars can get up in the 80's during the summer. And certainly there are grasses that can survive the winters.
—DIYMatt, Jul 25 2009
   

       That's like saying greenhouses are not required on Earth becuse some places get up to 40c
—simonj, Jul 28 2009
   

       Well, greenhouses aren't required on earth ;)
—DIYMatt, Jul 28 2009
   

       mebbe a condom which lets chlorophyll spectrum through for the plant but absorbs the rest, heating it up.
—FlyingToaster, Jul 29 2009
   

       You will want some of the heat if not the moisture to be able to escape...and probably be recouped for some other task. (+)   

       And...speaking of greenhouses...why not a greenhouse?
—JackyD, Jul 29 2009
   

       //Yep it's 95.32% CO2//   

       Yes, but 95.32% of what?
—wagster, Jul 29 2009
   

       actually, considering the dust-storms on Mars, we might have to go with a greenhouse anyways [-]
—FlyingToaster, Jul 29 2009
   

       Condoms still work in dust storms, though. At least that's my experience.
—daseva, Jul 29 2009
   

       [21], you think that something covered by a condom is not still beautiful? ;-)
—normzone, Jul 29 2009
   

       I suspect the CO2 isn't the problem, rather it'll be the very low levels of illumination, and the cold. Maybe we could combine the Condom with a spherical sector mirror, so that the tree gets a lot more sunshine. Don't want parabolic, since we'd end up cooking one point.   

       Alternatively a conic mirror would work just as well (and would be a lot simpler to fabricate on site!)
—Parrotile, Dec 22 2009
   

       /very low levels of illumination/   

       Why would this be the case on Mars? Distance from the sun?
—bungston, Dec 23 2009
   

       A greater good for the perforated condom.
—wjt, Dec 23 2009
   

       Not as silly as it might seem: Transparent tents over plants on Mars would work = green housing for then plants, a possible step toward Terraforming Mars. The tents would build up water vapor and Oxygen for future use from the plants' reduction of CO2.
—fasteddy, Dec 25 2009
   


 

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