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Space Science

The First Soybean Crop Grown In Space is harvest 51

Posted by Hemos from the soylnet-green-is-made-from-people dept.
ihnm writes "Science Daily has a story on the harvesting of the first soybeans grown in a space station. Does this mean McDonald's will start selling Space Burgers?"
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The First Soybean Crop Grown In Space is harvest More

The First Soybean Crop Grown In Space is harvest

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  • Lose weight! (Score:3, Funny)

    by oever ( 233119 ) on Monday November 04, 2002 @10:11AM (#4593813) Homepage
    Lose weight, eat space burgers.

    Never mind the mass.

    • Re:Lose weight! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by qengho ( 54305 )

      Lose weight, eat space burgers.

      Don't laugh, that's actually what happened when Cornell University did a study of a proposed space colony diet. [cornell.edu]

      Since a near-vegan diet uses resources efficiently, that's what long-duration space travellers and colonists will be eating. Successfully growing soybeans in space is a big deal.

  • soya - cows - burger - major waste (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Monday November 04, 2002 @10:19AM (#4593851) Journal
    Feeding soy beans to cows to make meat is one of the grossest misuse of resources in farming.

    5,000 gallons of water per pound of beef.

    When water is becoming a scarce commodity it makes no sense.

    • When water is becoming a scarce commodity it makes no sense.

      What are you talking about? Water is our most renewable natural resource, we have tons of it. It is relatively easy to purify and make drinkable. There are some places away from coastal areas that have difficulty getting water for crops, but we have a very ready supply of it for the rest of the world.

      --trb
      • From here [fao.org]

        One possible starting point is to stipulate a minimum amount of renewable water per head of the population, and to treat countries having less than this as "water short". At levels of internal renewable water availability of less than 1,000 cubic meters per head, FAO regards water as a severe constraint on socio-economic development and environmental protection. It has been estimated that 20 countries will be at or below this level by the year 2000 (FAO, 1995). Most of these are in North Africa and the Middle East. At levels of water availability of less than 2,000 cu.m. per head, water is regarded as a potentially serious constraint, and a major problem in drought years. 40 countries will fall into this category by 2000 (FAO, 1993).

        For more information see [fao.org]
        http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/aglw/homeaglw.stm
        • You're right... so lets all export all of the water from our farmlands to the needy countries of the world....

          never mind that of the cows out here (in South Dakota)... I have NEVER EVER seen any actually irrigated... not with purified water, sometimes underground wells, but most farmers come up with this really neat idea of digging big holes in the ground, they call this a reservoir, it's a real nifty idea.

          so this whole 5000 gallons of a resource we don't spend any energy "extracting" actually ends up being a bunch of bull-shit, as the water wouldn't be doing anything but SITTING...

          just because you have an arguement, doesn't mean it's a good one... sure, there may be some places in the world where water is scarce... and we even felt the drought here in south dakota... but the point is that cattle can move to where the water IS, where you have to bring the water to the crops.... which do you think expends more energy?

          there is nothing wrong with raising cattle, but there is something wrong with raising cattle where it's not viable
          • 5000 gallons per pound = wasteful

            • that's like saying 5000 cubic meters of air per pound = wasteful... or howmuchever energy that the cattle absorb from the sun = wasteful

              water in the the areas where cattle are commonly raised is a resource that replensishes itself, so to say...
            • Like fean, I'm from South Dakota. There are many parts of this state where grain production is simply not feasible, due to inadequate precipitation, soils being incompatible with irrigation, and terrain forms being unsuited for farm equipment to operate on them. Cattle can be used to 'harvest' the resources that wouldn't be usable otherwise. Also, cattle are rather like the bison that used to roam this state, so in a way, they help preserve the environment. Now, raising cattle in space wouldn't be very efficient, I'll grant that. But in many places on Earth, especially places like western South Dakota, they're one of the more efficient 'crops'.

    • Re:soya - cows - burger - major waste (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gerf ( 532474 ) on Monday November 04, 2002 @06:15PM (#4595600) Journal

      I was born and raised on a farm, so i know a bit about this.


      If water is scarce, it is more expensive. So, cattle, and other water intensive things are usually done where there's a lotta water. like the midwest. You don't see nearly as many cattle around in the desert anymore, do ya


      The real problem with water and food useage isn't that there isn't enough. God no. It's getting the food to the people who need it. there's two reasons this is hard


      1.) We'd have to ship all this food/water hundreds and thousands of miles through bad areas, with little roads or rails. think Somalia here.


      The people who need it can't afford it, and we can't just give away everything we have all the time. we're not a socialist nation, us americans (we have the biggest surplus of food though).


      So, if you want to become a vegetarian, this is truly the right reason. but please, be sensical about it, and don't talk about what you don't know

      • So, if you want to become a vegetarian, this is truly the right reason. but please, be sensical about it, and don't talk about what you don't know

        tbh I couldn't agree more but you do miss one vital aspect. AFAIK Meat is more perishable than grain.

        I went vegan for these very reasons. Meat production is wasteful, it was only later that I became concerned with the cruelty.

        The destruction of food in the EU is to maintain a false market because govt. is in the hands of the landowner, not the citizen.

        In ancient Rome food was free, the Emperor was expected to provide for his capital city. Now that we are civilised, the landowners use penury and starvation as a threat instead of a one way trip to the colosseum.

        And for once we can, in all honestly, blame the French - for that is the legacy of the Norman Conquest - modern parliament.

        • Because we all know that all of the petty dictators and war lords in Africa and South West Asia are all secretly closet parlimentarians.
          No Really! They would stop all the killing and repressing if someone only shouted "Point of Order!"

          This is ridiculous. Subsidies are about keeping your people in business when the costs do not justify it from a purely capitalistic approach. This is done in all kinds of industries for a variety of reasons. One main reason is usually national defense. If you can't do it yourself, some other guy can use it as a weapon against you. The farming subsidy business is a bit more complicated than that. But it still boils down to the fact that for whatever reason, people are not willing to pay what it actually costs the farmer to grow the particular crop that is being susidized, or some other guy can sell it that cheaply and it is going to put all of your guys out of business.

    • Re:soya - cows - burger - major waste (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Of course water's a scarce commodity! It's not like it just falls from the sky!
      No, wait...
  • This. [hightimes.com]

    Be a far better crop to grow up there in the long run.

    Not to mention the delivery options this would make available.

  • Good source for interstellar travel (Score:5, Interesting)

    by (trb001) ( 224998 ) on Monday November 04, 2002 @10:29AM (#4593885) Homepage
    I know they say they're researching this to make soybeans "cheaper and better for the consumer", but I gotta believe that they're second goal (if not their primary) is to find a way to grow food during interstellar travel. That's always been one of the biggest problems facing astronauts, you COULD get to Mars, but it would take 10 years and you wouldn't be able to pack that much food. If they could grow food, though, people can live off of an all vegetable diet. Heck, you can breed animals given a renewable source of vegetable food for them.

    --trb
    • Without a garden of some kind you aren't going to be able to have salad greens more than a few days out, or fresh vegetables more than a few weeks out. That may not be important to you, but sooner or later the mass-budget of stored food exceeds what you'd need for a garden to supply at least part of your needs. And if there's anything you ought to know before spouting off your mouth about space travel, PUSHING MASS AROUND THE SOLAR SYSTEM IS EXPENSIVE!
    • Heck, you can breed animals given a renewable source of vegetable food for them.

      And how exactly are you gonna keep them in zero g?

      The Raven

  • Damn liberals... (Score:5, Funny)

    by skaffen42 ( 579313 ) on Monday November 04, 2002 @10:34AM (#4593907)
    I allways knew the space program was run by those damn liberals. I mean, why would they be growing soy beans? I'll tell you why:

    Tofu!

    They want our astronauts to eat Tofu. And drink soy milk. And eat "healthy". Dammit, what happened to feeding them steak. You think Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier and then went for a nice vegetarian stir fry with extra tofu? You think Neil Armstrong was missing his veggy shake while wandering around the moon. I think not!

    I say we start a campaign to get some cows up there. Our boys need meat!

    If even our astronauts start eating tofu then all is lost. "Come on dear, even Buzz Aldrin eats tofu, why can't you?" I'll have no excuses left. I'll have to start eating that stuff. Aarrgh!

    Come to think of it, can we get them to grow some hopps up there?

    • If even our astronauts start eating tofu then all is lost. "Come on dear, even Buzz Aldrin eats tofu, why can't you?" I'll have no excuses left. I'll have to start eating that stuff.

      Dude, if that argument works, you could always tell your wife that Buzz prolly swallows too, and see how she takes that lying down.

      Or, erm, some other such lame reference to blowjobs...

    • Re:Damn liberals... (Score:1, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Tofu tastes good and is quite good for you. Get over it.
  • ... and how does that benefit gastronaughts with the following food available: Space Menu [nasa.gov]

    gus

  • "Does this mean McDonald's will start selling Space Burgers?"

    That would require McDonald's to put something healthy in their burgers... I don't think they'll go for that.

    When we can start growing random cow/kangaroo/moose parts in space, then we should give 'em a call

    Mmmmm... moose burgers...

  • space farming? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Nmonic ( 548455 )
    How viable would it be to in say, 25 to 50 years have huge orbiting farming (greenhouse) satellites, fully automated (sorry farmers) and we (er, machines) harvest them year round. Forget the seasonal growing limitations here on earth, and there's no shortage of "real estate" to grow crops on in space, either. Its obviously not fiesable right now, but if we could get the cost per pound of placing something in orbit down, it could be a reality.

  • Funding (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Does this mean McDonald's will start selling Space Burgers?

    Sounds like a good way to fund the program.

  • Since Burger King already has BK Veggies, they seem more likely to be the first space "soy" based fast-food franchise ;-)

    P.S. Does anybody remember Space Quest, Roger Wilco and the integalactic fast food place?
    • Oh yes - found my copy of Space Quest III when digging it boxes of old disks when setting up my "new" second hand machine - it even still worked! Bloody stupid video game

  • the magical soybean (Score:2, Interesting)

    by tprox ( 621523 )
    Soybeans are hardy and grow well in many conditions. Plus they provide the protein that people need to survive without having to require yet another living thing who is just going to end up being slaughtered for consumption (cow, for example).

    Sure it sucks to eat tofu every day, but you have to give something up to survive in such closed quarters.

    If the chinese do it, so can you!

  • Scientists Shocked at Data (Score:5, Funny)

    by selectspec ( 74651 ) on Tuesday November 05, 2002 @09:20AM (#4598766)
    Scientists scramble to understand the revelations exposed by the data gathered in this experiment: At nearly 15 million dollars per soy bean, growing soy beans in space is really expensive compared to growing them on the ground.

    This shockwave rippling through NASA has put into doubt future projects, such as the herding goats on the moon project, the orbiting retirment home, and NASA's holy grail, the Europa Mineral Water bottling company.
  • You! Burger lord! How is it that this meat is so pure, so perfect?

    Well, it all started in 1962... Utilizing advances in modern food synthesis, scientists at NASA began work on a germ hostile space meat-

    Only recently has their hard work paid off. As even more advances in the field of space meat have been made and applied to what is now known as Operation Meat.
    Seeing this as a way to end their streak of being sued by angry costumers poisoned by their burgers, the Mac Meaties corporation decided to try this miraculous space meat.

    Not having access to that technology, we make ours out of napkins.

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