How Humans On Mars Could Evolve Into A New Species

Mutants like the X-Men might be much more likely to emerge in a human society living on another planet than here are on Earth, because radiation can really mess with evolution. Space agencies and private companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX are trying to make space travel more sustainable, learn about how the human body responds to long-term microgravity conditions and isolation and figure out how to grow crops in outer space, among other exercises -- all as people set their sights on places like Mars to explore and colonize. But what will happen to us once we get there? It's possible the first settlers will evolve into a new human species entirely, given enough time. On Earth, that amount of time is somewhere between thousands and millions of years, according to anthropologist John Hawks, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.