From Ice to Heat: How Metal Nanorods Could Warm Mars by 30 K, According to New Model

A team of engineers and geophysicists from Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Central Florida has proposed an innovative method for warming Mars. Instead of using greenhouse gases—which are difficult to produce on Mars—they suggest a more efficient approach involving metal nanorods. Their findings are detailed in a paper published in the journal Science Advances.

For years, science fiction has imagined making Mars habitable through terraforming, enabling human life without specialized equipment. Recently, scientists have explored more practical methods, focusing on slightly warming the planet rather than transforming it entirely. Traditionally, these methods have involved releasing greenhouse gases to trap solar heat. However, Mars lacks the necessary materials for generating these gases.

The researchers propose an alternative: shooting millions of metal nanorods into Mars' atmosphere. They believe that, similar to Martian dust, these nanorods could trap heat but would remain airborne longer. The team likens this process to dispersing glitter into the atmosphere. The nanorods could be produced from Martian resources and reused after settling. Initial tests suggest that these nanorods would settle about ten times slower than dust.

To test this idea, the researchers used the MarsWRF global climate model along with a supplementary 1-D model to simulate the effects of introducing metal nanorods into the Martian atmosphere. The model predicted that firing nanorods at a rate of 30 liters per second would raise the planet's temperature by 30 K (equivalent to 30°C or 54°F). If this process continued for at least ten years, it could lead to the melting of surface ice.

The team concludes that using metal nanorods could be a more effective method for warming Mars compared to releasing greenhouse gases.