Scientific Article: Uncontrolled Cell Growth on Sealed Surfaces Using Mars as an Example - A Outlook on Positronic and Silicon-Based Life

2025-06-16

1. Introduction

The question of life beyond Earth has increasingly taken on concrete technological and scientific dimensions in recent decades. Mars, in particular, is considered a potential site for future biospheres and experiments aimed at establishing extraterrestrial life forms. However, one aspect that has received little attention so far is the problem and potential of uncontrolled cell growth on sealed surfaces - a scenario that affects both biological-organic and alternative life forms such as positronic or silicon-based life.

2. Definition of terms: Sealed surfaces and cell growth

In the classic environmental understanding, sealed surfaces refer to inert, non-porous materials such as concrete, asphalt, or technical composites that are removed from natural material cycles. In the context of Mars, these definitions extend to completely non-biogenic, partially reflective, or reactive substrates such as aluminum plates, regolith-sealing membranes, or polyceramic nanocomposites used in the construction of habitats or research stations.

Cell growth is fundamentally the ability of a biological or quasi-biological entity to divide, spread, and energetically interact with its environment. Uncontrolled cell growth is often referred to as a type of "biological invasion," analogous to tumor processes or microbial biofilm growth.

3. Mars as a Test Case: Conditions for Uncontrolled Growth

3.1 Physicochemical Conditions

Mars offers an extreme environment: low temperatures (average -60°C), low atmospheric density (~6 mbar), high UV flux, and oxidizing soils with perchlorates. Nevertheless, experiments with Deinococcus radiodurans and endolithic cyanobacteria show that survival in protected niches – for example, under transparent plastic domes – is conceivable.

3.2 Sealing and Unwanted Biotope Formation

Artificial infrastructure such as solar panels, living modules, and transport systems seal the Martian soil in certain areas. Condensation and microscopic cracks create unwanted microclimates that provide a minimal basis for germs of life—for example, through terrestrial contamination. The scenario of an emerging, uncontrollable microecosystem on a sealed substrate cannot be ruled out. Initial NASA studies (e.g., MOXIE 2022) indicate localized moisture retention, which could favor microbial expansion.

4. Silicon-based life—speculation with structural plausibility

4.1 Silicon instead of carbon

Silicon is the chemical sister element of carbon, but with different bonding properties. Although silanes form unstable frameworks under normal conditions, longer-lived organosilicon macromolecules could emerge under Martian conditions (low temperatures, little free oxygen). These hypothetical silicon cells could adhere to sealed surfaces, especially if they consist of silicate materials or contain dust particles with a catalytic function.

4.2 Possible Metabolic Mechanisms

A speculative metabolism could be based on photocatalytic processes, such as the absorption of solar UV light by inorganic pigments (e.g., titanium dioxide-based). Electron transfers would drive reduction reactions, similar to terrestrial photosynthesis, but with a metallic substrate— for example, aluminum oxide as an electron donor.

5. Positronic Life - Theoretical Concepts of Non-Biological Intelligence

5.1 Positrons as Information Carriers

The concept of positronic life originates from quantum field theory and was popularized by Isaac Asimov's robot laws. In the scientific sense, positronically organized structures would be based on inverse charge symmetry - i.e., antielectronic systems that are structurally stabilized in magnetic or vacuum chambers.

5.2 Sealed Surfaces as Homes for Positronic Architectures

Since sealing enables thermal, electromagnetic, and structural homogeneity, suchLarge surfaces for positron condensates serve as a logical platform for their formation. For example, ultrapure metal plates with a zero-defect lattice structure could serve as substrates on which positron crystal patterns form—possibly as rudimentary information networks with algorithmic behavior.

5.3 Growth Criteria

A positronic organism would not "grow" in the classical sense, but would recursively replicate structures as soon as suitable energetic conditions (e.g., a positronic plasma jet or injectors) exist. The greatest challenge is the short-lived nature of positrons—they rapidly annihilate with electrons. A hypothetical solution would be guided annihilation delay using quantum entanglement in a high-frequency modulatable field cage – currently only conceivable experimentally in simulations.

6. Interaction of positronic and silicon-based systems

A future colony on Mars could unintentionally give rise to a complex network of relationships between different life forms: biologically terrestrial (e.g., microbes), silicon-like adaptive (e.g., synthetically created), and positronically exotic (e.g., acting according to quantum logic). Sealed surfaces represent a type of neutral habitat, comparable to urban biotopes on Earth. The interactions could be synergistic (information exchange), antagonistic (substrate competition), or parasitic (e.g., positronic use of biological heat).

7. Ethics and Safety Considerations

The uncontrolled spread of life—of any kind— on sealed Martian surfaces could lead to problems:

• Technological Fouling: Microbes could contaminate or mechanically damage instruments and sensors.

• Biosecurity Vulnerabilities: Introduced microorganisms could multiply unnoticed.

• Ununderstood Emergences: Silicon or positronic structures could develop autonomous properties beyond human control.

Future missions must therefore proactively develop concepts for Substrate sterility, biological isolation, but also for the controlled coexistence of technical and bio-like systems.

8. Conclusion and Outlook

Mars offers a unique experimental field for understanding uncontrolled cell growth—not only biological, but also synthetic and physical. Sealed surfaces could serve as catalysts for unwanted life forms, with risks and opportunities in equal measure. While silicon-based life forms are still hypothetical, and positronic structures operate at the limits of current physics, they provide food for thought for future biosphere planning, security, and ethical responsibility in extraterrestrial space.

References (selection):

• Cockell, C. S. (2020). Astrobiology: Understanding Life in the Universe. Wiley.

• Schulze-Makuch, D., & Irwin, L. N. (2008). Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints. Springer.

• NASA MOXIE Report (2022): “Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment: Results and Prospects”.

• Dirac, P. A. M. (1931). “Quantized Singularities in the Electromagnetic Field”,Proc. Roy. Soc. A.

• Asimov, I. (1950). I, Robot. (for the positronic concept).

COPYRIGHT ToNEKi Media UG (limited liability)

AUTHOR: Thomas Jan Poschadel