re what planets are habitable in article c w iyd fs ece cmu edu loss fs ece cmu edu doug loss writes from loss fs ece cmu edu doug loss subject re what planets are habitable date tue apr gmt in article jpg apr holly bnr co uk jpg bnr co uk jonathan p gibbons writes i would appreciate any thoughts on what makes a planet habitable for humans i am making asumptions that life and a similar atmosphere evolve given a range of physical aspects of the planet the question is what physical aspects simply disallow earth like conditions eg temperature range of k to k where temp is purely dependant on dist from the sun and the suns temperature atmospheric presure i know nothing of human tolerance there are people who have adapted to high altitudes in the andes and in tibet i suspect that it took them several generations to make the adaptation because europeans had difficulty making the adaptation they had to send the women to a lower altitude when they were pregnant in order to insure sucessful childbirth planetary mass again gravity at surface is important how much can human bodies take day after day also how does the mass effect atmosphere i thinking of planets between and times mass of the earth i suppose density should be important as well another factor you should consider is the x ray opacity of the atmosphere in case of stellar flares the uv opacity is also important because uv radiation can kill or damage microbes plants and animals climate etc does not concern me nor does axial tilt etc etc just the above three factors and how they relate to one another
