The more we peer into the cosmos, the more obvious it becomes that Earth is a very rare little marble. But what if we could turn a semi-habitable planet into an Earth clone?

That’s the theory posited by a new paper, which at its core sounds quite a bit like the Genesis Device made famous in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Claudius Gros, a professor who studies complex system theory and simulated robotics at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, told Space his theory revolved around the concept of potentially terraforming planets to make them more like Earth.

Gros’ concept would aim to use robotic probes to deliver terrestrial organisms onto an alien planet, which would then change the planet to make it more Earth-like. The probes would plant "nano-size re-entry capsules" loaded with terrestrial organisms best suited for the planet. The seeding process would probably cause some instability for a thousand years or so, but after that, the planet should stabilize.

It’s important to note the potential technology required to do this hasn’t even been conceived yet (and would take thousands of years to work), but it’s still a good place to start.

(Via Space)