Future Astronauts May Survive On Eating Silkworms 384
sciencehabit writes "Science reports that silkworms may be an ideal food source for future space missions. They breed quickly, require little space and water, and generate smaller amounts of excrement than poultry or fish. They also contain twice as many essential amino acids as pork does and four times as much as eggs and milk. Even the insect's inedible silk, which makes up 50% of the weight of the dry cocoon, could provide nutrients: The material can be rendered edible through chemical processing and can be mixed with fruit juice, sugar, and food coloring to produce jam."
gross (Score:5, Funny)
can we make them taste like bacon?
The death of a myth (Score:5, Funny)
Hey (Score:5, Funny)
"Oh, I don't know, Frank, how about... MORE FU(#1NG WORMS!?"
"Just calm down and pass the worm jam."
oblig (Score:5, Funny)
Re:gross (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
Hey if that works, they've got the solution to space travel all wrapped up!
Wrong (Score:3, Funny)
Real astronauts eat'tang.
Must be in the NASA manual... (Score:5, Funny)
Astronaut 2,"Paragraph 47, subsection 19, cause 9a. You can find it in the index under S.U.A.E.I."
Astronaut 1,"S.U.A.E.I.?"
Astronaut 2,"Shut up and eat it."
Apologies to Babylon 5.
Spnife (Score:5, Funny)
If they taste like they smell...... (Score:5, Funny)
so what do they taste like?? can we make them taste like bacon?
Last year I was in Korea where the streets are lined with vendors frying up silkworm pupae on the street as an, *ahem*, delicacy. The smell wafting down the road can only be described as a cross between death and pus. I would eat my fellow astronauts over silkworms.
Re:gross (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, here is the recipe:
- Take fresh (or not so fresh) worms
- Garnish with whatever you like (like eggs)
- before eating, replace worms with bacon
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
China is all set for their space program then! (Score:4, Funny)
This should be great for their fledgling space program and will prove they're committed to a peaceful future. They have vast quantities of old Silkworms [wikipedia.org] laying around ready to be made into food. Gives a whole new meaning to the term explosive diarrhea though.
"Make dinner, not war" is what I always say.
Re:gross (Score:4, Funny)
PIGS!
IN!
SPAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaACE!
From TFA: (Score:2, Funny)
I guess I took it for granted that 170 silkworms would be easier to raise than 170 chickens.
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, man. That's deep!
Re:Cutlery! (Score:3, Funny)
If you can find a way to properly polymerise their silk
With that and some way of growing a plant that can use meteorites as nutrients and that can feed silkworms:
- Astronaut grows plants on ship.
- Astronaut mines meteorite for plant nutrients.
- Silkworm eats plants
- Astronauts eats silkworm.
- Astronaut uses polymerised silk to build Death Star.
The song (Score:3, Funny)
Everybody hates me
Going into space to eat worms!
Re:Sexy Lingerie! (Score:3, Funny)
And if you get really bored in your new space habitat, you can make sexy underwear to keep your colony's population rising. :)
It doesn't matter how much silk underwear you use, you still won't reproduce with a silkworm.
Re:gross (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why silkworms when there is ... (Score:2, Funny)
SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE
Re:gross (Score:5, Funny)
Last time I was there I had some great meat balls. They really were the dog's bollocks.
In space, chickens can fly! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
Male Astronauts have apparently tried quite a bit
Unless you have a citation for this I'm going to assume that you are confusing the NASA channel with old Cinemax reruns of Emmanuelle in Space ;)
Re:Food for thought (Score:3, Funny)
I will still not give any DVDA shots :/
Re:Food for thought (Score:3, Funny)
Will sunscreen do? What do I need, SPF 280,000?
Re:gross (Score:5, Funny)
Who was the guy who first looked at a chicken and thought "I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out of that bird's butt."
Thank god the egg came out first.
Re:gross (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
From what I understand, it's almost impossible for people to have sex in Zero-G. Male Astronauts have apparently tried quite a bit, even with the help of drugs, but they -can't- get an erection. This makes sense since most of the blood in your body flows to your head when you're in Zero-G.
So NASA just needs to screen astronaut applicants for the ability to mastrubate while standing on their head...
Re:Food for thought (Score:3, Funny)
"but if we're gonna go to Mars or wherever, we'll need to bring our own protection."
No we don't - according to a poster above, men can't even get an erection in space, much less impregnate anyone.
Re:Food for thought (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
Female astronauts have no problem, they have blood in their head during normal sex too.
Shouldn't silkworms be called "space kittens"? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Food for thought (Score:4, Funny)
but if we're gonna go to Mars or wherever, we'll need to bring our own protection.
Wait are you talking about the radiation or is this still the space sex thread?
Re:Food for thought (Score:5, Funny)
especially pushers and shovers.
The problems of docking
and then interlocking
are greatly increased when one hovers.
Source: Omni Magazine, limerick contest
Re:Potato Chips on a Sub (Score:1, Funny)
A Navy friend of mine worked on a Sub for many years. He always thought it was ironic that for a mission that required stealth they always seemed to have some of the loudest food you could find. Even MREs are edible, normal food.
Loud food? Is that really a problem? I am aware that the zesty crunch of Tostitos is, in fact, totally insane.. but I was not aware that the chip scientists had invented one capable of sending its crunch-vibrations out through the metal hull of a submarine in ultra-high-pressure ocean depths.
I'd be glad to hear it though. Developments in chip technology, zestiness excluded, has been depressingly stagnant recently.