Dune is the nickname for the planet Arrakis, a harsh desert world in the Canopus system where much of the story unfolds. The primary residents are the resilient Fremen people and their native species, the Shai Huld, enormous sandworms that can live for thousands of years and grow over two kilometers long.

The Shai Huld’s main diet consists of sand, with tiny organisms called sand plankton as a supplement. Their digestion of this bland food releases oxygen, which makes the planet’s atmosphere breathable for humans. This process is similar to Earth’s photosynthesis, where plants and bacteria produce oxygen through sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.

Professor Gary King of Louisiana State University is studying the use of photosynthetic bacteria to introduce oxygen into Mars’ atmosphere, a concept known as terraforming. By creating greenhouse gases to warm the planet and melt ice into a liquid form, automated factories could potentially make Mars habitable for humans.

Without a protective magnetic field like Earth’s, Mars lost its original atmosphere due to high-energy radiation from the sun. Establishing a biosphere on Mars could lead to oxygen production, replenishing what is lost due to radiation exposure.

Can we live without water?

Arrakis, despite being a harsh desert, is home to the Fremen people who rely on innovative technologies like the Stillsuit to recycle all the water they excrete. These suits filter sweat, urine, and feces to recover water for the wearer to drink, powered by the user’s movements.

Similar water recycling systems are used on the International Space Station to reuse up to 93% of water on board. Mars, with limited liquid water, may adopt similar technologies to sustain human life on the planet.

Research shows promise in extracting water from the atmosphere using moisture-absorbing technology, offering solutions for clean water production in arid regions.