have you ever wondered what life would be like on a larger planet
a world two three or even ten times the size of earth standing on the surface our planet looks
like a vast awe-inspiring landscape stretching as far as the eye can see but in the grand scheme of
our universe earth is a very very small place even in our solar system which pales in comparison to
galaxies nebulas and clusters of stars earth is dwarfed by gas giants like jupiter and saturn
of the eight planets in our solar system earth is the fourth smallest but what if the earth grew
ten times larger is that even possible in 2016 a nasa spacecraft began wandering through space
exploring the countless celestial bodies scattered throughout our known universe
while searching for new stars and black holes nasa discovered a number of massive rocky planets
called super earths these planets like earth have solid surfaces orbit around
nearby stars and maintain some sort of atmosphere though they are smaller than most gas giants
super earths can range from two to ten times the size of our planet
so scientists began to wonder how would our evolution and history have changed on a larger
ball of rock what would life look like on a super planet 10 times the mass of earth let's start with
the basics and assume the large new earth has the same density as the earth you live on today
larger planets create a greater gravitational force so if the earth grew 10 times more
massive you would immediately notice a change in surface gravity we won't dive too deep into the
math but if you weighed 150 pounds on earth you would weigh about 323 pounds on a planet
10 times as massive imagine trying to carry twice your body weight your muscles may not be strong
enough almost everyone would struggle to run walk or even stand the population would become immobile
and our environment wouldn't fare any better buildings would crumble under their own weight
forests full of towering trees would splinter and fall unable to support their own branches
this substantial change in gravity could bring our world to a crashing halt
but what if humans had always lived on a planet 10 times the size of earth what if we rewrote the
history of our planet changing this one important variable what would the world look like today
let's start with living organisms what would life look like on a larger planet thanks to an
increase in gravity organisms may shrink downward and expand outward the tallest trees would grow
wide and stocky flowers would bloom on thick stems far broader than the ones you see on earth
animals would look even stranger they'd evolve heavy powerful legs even with stronger legs
animals would move slowly no more cheetahs zipping around at 50 miles per hour no more falcons
nose diving out of the sky so what about humans like every other species our bodies
would transform drastically theorists imagine humans following one of two paths
if we evolved as predators we may become dense and stalky almost like bears if we evolved as peaceful
gatherers we may stay light and thin like a deer if humans changed shape our society would follow
let's assume humans on a larger planet grow short and wide doorways may stand four feet tall
a five-story building would be roughly the size of a house on earth
many modern luxuries might not exist on a super planet air travel is a big one the increase in
gravity would make flying far more difficult for the same reason space travel would be nearly
impossible current estimates suggest even a 50 increase in the earth's radius would make rockets
unfeasible but if you multiply earth's mass by 10 the radius would increase by over 100 percent
satellites space stations and moon landings would never happen our society may be stuck
on the ground but it's not all bad news think about how much more space we would have to expand
earth has a surface area of 197 million square miles on the super earth we would have over 900
million square miles to explore humans would encounter new and exciting natural wonders
mountain ranges dwarfing the himalayas deep sea reefs spanning thousands of miles deserts
rain forests and icy continents waiting to be discovered but there's one big question
we forgot to ask we know that life would evolve differently on a larger planet but would life
ever exist in the first place a super earth faces many challenges a smaller planet does not take
interstellar collisions over the years earth has narrowly avoided a number of cosmic catastrophes
a larger planet would not be so lucky it would attract many more cosmic bodies any
one of these collisions could sterilize life as we know it to make matters worse our earth has
a molten core composed of liquefied metals those metals preserve the earth's magnetic field this
field protects the surface from dangerous solar winds if our planet grew 10 times more massive
the core would change from a liquid to a solid a solid core would weaken the earth's magnetic field
exposing the planet to those devastating solar winds just look at the barren surface of mars
that's what happens when solar winds scrape away a planet's surface
a larger core also creates extra energy which gets trapped inside the planet that energy needs some
way to escape the interior of the planet so it bursts from the surface through volcanic eruptions
over time these eruptions would increase global temperatures
scientists don't know how high the temperatures would climb but most organisms would not survive
imagine somehow life forms brave the heat and solar winds would a larger earth satisfy the
basic requirements for life many rocky planets in our universe contain water these aqua planets
house gigantic oceans which stretch across the surface a larger planet may have water
but it may be uninhabitable thanks to its high surface temperature a super earth may turn
into a vapor planet the water would evaporate into the atmosphere creating a planet covered in steam
if the earth were filled with hot vapor life wouldn't stand a chance
our planet may be one of the smallest members of our solar system
but if the earth was any bigger we might not be alive today