AI chemist finds molecule to make oxygen on Mars after sifting through millions

> The AI chemist used a robot arm to collect samples from the Martian meteorites, then it employed a laser to scan the ore. From there, it calculated more than 3.7 million molecules it could make from six different metallic elements in the rocks — iron, nickel, manganese, magnesium, aluminum and calcium.

> Within six weeks, without any human intervention, the AI chemist selected, synthesized and tested 243 of those different molecules.

I expected something less automated. It took a few time reading this to see that the robotic research labs from computer games I used to play are now here.

> Living on Mars requires the ability to synthesize chemicals that are essential for survival, such as oxygen, from local Martian resources. However, this is a challenging task. Here we demonstrate a robotic artificial-intelligence chemist for automated synthesis and intelligent optimization of catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction from Martian meteorites. The entire process, including Martian ore pretreatment, catalyst synthesis, characterization, testing and, most importantly, the search for the optimal catalyst formula, is performed without human intervention. Using a machine-learning model derived from both first-principles data and experimental measurements, this method automatically and rapidly identifies the optimal catalyst formula from more than three million possible compositions. The synthesized catalyst operates at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for over 550,000 s of operation with an overpotential of 445.1 mV, demonstrating the feasibility of the artificial-intelligence chemist in the automated synthesis of chemicals and materials for Mars exploration.

Ethics of terraforming: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_terraforming

Terraforming of Mars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars :

> Mars doesn't have an intrinsic global magnetic field, but the solar wind directly interacts with the atmosphere of Mars, leading to the formation of a magnetosphere from magnetic field tubes.[14] This poses challenges for mitigating solar radiation and retaining an atmosphere.

> The lack of a magnetic field, its relatively small mass, and its atmospheric photochemistry, all would have contributed to the evaporation and loss of its surface liquid water over time.[15] Solar wind–induced ejection of Martian atmospheric atoms has been detected by Mars-orbiting probes, indicating that the solar wind has stripped the Martian atmosphere over time. For comparison, while Venus has a dense atmosphere, it has only traces of water vapor (20 ppm) as it lacks a large, dipole-induced, magnetic field.[14][16][15] Earth's ozone layer provides additional protection. Ultraviolet light is blocked before it can dissociate water into hydrogen and oxygen. [17]

Oxygen evolution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_evolution

"Since Perseverance landed on Mars in 2021, MOXIE has generated a total of 122 grams of oxygen – about what a small dog breathes in 10 hours. At its most efficient, MOXIE was able to produce 12 grams of oxygen an hour – twice as much as NASA’s original goals for the instrument – at 98% purity or better."

https://www.nasa.gov/missions/mars-2020-perseverance/perseve...

Not sure this article is very rigorous.