Mars in fiction from red-colored vegetation, and Schiaparelli observed what he took to be linear features on the face of Mars, which he thought might be water channels. Because the Italian for channels is "canali", English translations tended to render the word as "canals", implying artificial construction. Lowell's books on Mars expanded on this notion of Martian canals, and a standard model of Mars as a drying, cooling, dying world was established. It was frequently speculated that ancient Martian civilizations had constructed irrigation works that spanned the planet in an attempt at saving their dying world. This concept spawned a large number of
The Race (Worldwar) was growing. Several trips had been taken aboard reusable space shuttles to space and to the Moon and Mars. The partial occupation also had a significant effect on culture and society in general. Ginger, discovered to have a narcotic effect on the Race, is widely grown and stored by various governments. Culturally, humans try to take the occupation in stride, e.g. a song by Spike Jones, referring to Jones' song "Der Fuehrer's Face" from the real-world timeline: The Race (Worldwar) The Race refers to the fictional alien invaders of Harry Turtledove's "Worldwar" tetralogy, "Colonization" trilogy and "Homeward Bound". The aliens,