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Terraforming. This word has two parts - terra, which means Earth and land - and forming, which means make. Let's look at Terra first.
Terra is also used in terra incognita, which means unknown (incognito means unknown) land. This was used on maps centuries ago when explorers did not know what lay beyond. More recently, terra is used in the word terra cotta, which means 'cooked' or 'baked' earth. Terra cotta is a form of pottery. The famous terra cotta soldiers of Xian, China are an example.
You will often see 'terra' used in the phrase terra firma. This phrase means 'land.' It is a word used by sailors when they see land after a long time at sea. You can use it when you land after a long plane flight. "At last," you can say, "I'm on terra firma."
Forming in terraforming means make. Stars are formed (created), ideas are formed. And, in the world of space exploration, planets are made livable (for humans) through terraforming. Terraforming is making a planet livable by introducing plants, atmosphere, and water. Scientists are thinking of terraforming Mars someday; other scientists think this is impossible because Mars is too small.
Some of the sounds on Hokudai/Cast 76 are from FreeSound and Movie Sounds. Additional music is by Manzi, a local Kanazawa indies band.
Thank you for listening.
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Hokudai/Cast: Your fun-service podcast for learning Japanese, English, and Chinese.
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