I’ve frequently wondered whether it would be possible for cybernetically enhanced humans to colonize Venus without the use of terraforming, or even take a quick dip into the Sun’s photosphere and live to tell the tale. If we could replace the skin, muscles, and bones in the body with more durable synthetics, it could be possible. The idea that fullerenes could be used for synthetic muscles has been kicking around for some time, and the results of stress tests on carbon nanotubes released this week show great promise.

In the movie, the buckyball starts to get really fussy around 6,000 Kelvin, which, coincidentally, is just slightly hotter than the Sun’s average surface temperature of 5,778 K (9,953° F). The main issue with exploring/colonizing the Sun is that of unstable orbits taking would-be colonists directly to the core – however, between 0.08 and 0.21 AUs from the Sun is a dynamically stable zone, which may even contain Vulcanoid asteroids we have been prevented from observing thus far due to glare. This region may eventually open up for hardy colonists, as long as they can stand the heat and radiation.

Compared to the immediate circumsolar region, Venus is quite hospitable. With a mean surface temperature of 735 K (863° F), and a pressure of 90 atmospheres, living on Venus would be similar to dwelling near a deep-sea hydrothermal vent under about a kilometer of water. Harsh, no doubt, but nothing some forms of Earthly life can’t handle. If life forms made out of gooey proteins can deal with it, then it’s nothing that fullerene biota couldn’t handle. Why bother terraforming Venus when we can Venusform ourselves?

H/t to Machine Phase for the buckyball movie.