Study Suggests Potatoes Can Grow On Mars (phys.org) 198
The International Potato Center (CIP) has launched a series of experiments to discover if potatoes can grow under Mars' atmospheric conditions, as well as under extreme conditions on Earth. The CIP placed a potato inside a "specially constructed CubeSat contained environment" that simulates Mars temperature, air pressure, oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. They then used sensors and live-streaming cameras to record the soil and monitor the status of the potato. Preliminary results are positive as cameras inside the container show sprouts. Phys.Org reports: "We have been looking at the very dry soils found in the southern Peruvian desert. These are the most Mars-like soils found on Earth." Chris McKay of NASA ARC. "This [research] could have a direct technological benefit on Earth and a direct biological benefit on Earth," says Chris McKay of NASA ARC. From the initial experiment, CIP scientists concluded that future Mars missions that hope to grow potatoes will have to prepare soil with a loose structure and nutrients to allow the tubers to obtain enough air and water to allow it to tuberize. "It was a pleasant surprise to see that potatoes we've bred to tolerate abiotic stress were able to produce tubers in this soil," Amoros said. He added that one of the best performing varieties was very salt-tolerant from the CIP breeding program for adaptation to subtropical lowlands with tolerance to abiotic stress that was also recently released as a variety in Bangladesh for cultivation in coastal areas with high soil salinity. Amoros noted that whatever their implications for Mars missions, the experiments have already provided good news about potato's potential for helping people survive in extreme environments on Earth.
We know... (Score:5, Funny)
...Matt Damon already showed us.
Re:We know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:We know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, I think people believing a sci-fi movie to be true probably has less impact on the real world than those who believe historical movies to be completely true. It has often been said that history is written the victors, and that may have been true once, but nowadays the history that many know and believe was actually written by Hollywood scriptwriters.
Re:We know... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Audiences for the modern movies have much shorter attention span, inferior vocabulary, and are easily pleased with cheap thrills. Also the "lemon" scenes in Hollywood movies have much less variety than those old Greek poems, if movies were made with some of the erotic stuff of old they'd be banned and burned by 90% of our liberals.
Re: (Score:3)
Wait... Are you saying that Alexander Hamilton DIDN'T break into song about the million things he hadn't done and how he wasn't going to throw away his shot?
Re: (Score:3)
Wait... Are you saying that Alexander Hamilton DIDN'T break into song about the million things he hadn't done and how he wasn't going to throw away his shot?
Not sure he was Puerto Rican either.
He was born a little bit east of there, St. Kitts & Nevis...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, I think people believing a sci-fi movie to be true probably has less impact on the real world than those who believe historical movies to be completely true. It has often been said that history is written the victors, and that may have been true once, but nowadays the history that many know and believe was actually written by Hollywood scriptwriters.
Not when that Sci-Fi movie includes fictitious science. In the UK I had a conversation about the idea that humans only use 10% of their brain [wikipedia.org], and upon saying that the idea was basically bullshit and provably so from an evolutionary perspective, I was asked if I had watched Lucy, the Scarlett Johanssen film [imdb.com] based upon the premise and that I might find it interesting.
Re: (Score:2)
A remarkable number of people think the martian is based on a true story [slashdot.org]
Probably the same people who thought that Apollo 13 was fiction.
Re:We know... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
A remarkable number of people think the martian is based on a true story [slashdot.org]
Oh good lord, I missed that story. Slashdot linking to fucking Buzzfeed? Are you fucking serious? Anyways, that story doesn't show anything of the sort. You know why? Because even if all those tweets are real (and I wouldn't put it past Buzzfeed to make them up, or pay people to write them), and even if they're all serious (which they're probably not), a handful of tweets still doesn't mean anything about anything.
Re: (Score:2)
A remarkable number of people think the martian is based on a true story [slashdot.org]
That's nothing. Many people think our president and other elected federal officials actually care about them.
boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Humans landing on the moon is only a theory, not a fact. Increasingly, scientists doubt the theory that humans landed on the moon. If humans went to the moon, why aren't we still on the moon? According to quantum mechanics...
You used theory in attempt to prove moon landing being a theory... You should actually give a good reason why we, humans, should still be there in the first place. This is not a discovery of an uncharted island (different magnitude). There are many good reasons why humans do not need to be on the moon (atmosphere, cost, etc.). And if those scientists who have doubt on the moon landing are using the same logic you use, I highly doubt they are real scientists because they are asking the wrong question (which
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:We know... (Score:4, Funny)
Squirrel!
Re: (Score:2)
After 5 whats?
How are the tomatoes doing? (Score:2)
How are the tomatoes doing? Going to need ketchup!
The Irish had better consider radiation (Score:2)
Pretty sure that without also accurately emulating the radiation environment, this isn't even close to being definitive. Perhaps they did and TFS didn't mention it. I did not, of course, read TFA. :)
Re: (Score:3)
Data from the Chernobyl incident:
Cited source [stanford.edu]
Average yearly (300 mar
Much rejoicing in Russia (Score:5, Funny)
Colonization of Mars possible now! Vodka available!
I hate these hype stories (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah, you can grow things in Mars regolith. If you first remove the toxic perchlorates. And the hexavalent chromium. And the general excess of arsenic. And on and on. Basically, if you take a highly polluted natural material and remediate the various pollutants from it, then add water, you can grow plants in it. Well golly gee, whoda thunk that?
This project is a stunt by a potato council. They're not growing potatoes in Mars regolith or anything similarly contaminated, they're growing them in soil taken from the Pampas de La Joya desert. Interviewed elsewhere:
Re: (Score:3)
Oh, heck, from the look of it the thing's not even in space [cipotato.org].
Yep, check out the timelapse mode [potatoes.space] on the livestream - there's clearly people walking by outside. For crying out loud...
Re:I hate these hype stories (Score:5, Informative)
No information anywhere specifying what pressure (Pa, mbar, psi, atm....) they're using in there, but I can tell you it's not a Marslike ~600Pa / 6mbar / 0.006 atm, because that's below the Armstrong limit, and water can't exist in a liquid phase at those pressures (the "liquid water flowing on Mars" was actually concentrated toxic deliquescent brine). I can also tell you that they're not using Marslike temperatures because it's not exactly a secret that potatoes don't sprout or survive in the winter.
What a load of hype.
Re: (Score:2)
>
What a load of hype.
The article wasn't a complete dud. Before reading it, I had not known that "one advantage potato great genetic capacity for adaptation".
Re: (Score:3)
Not sure whether this was meant seriously or in snark.
If actually meant seriously: potatoes, like all plants, exchange gas with air in the pore space at their roots in order to get oxygen. Said air is the same pressure as the outside air. Water vapour exchanges with it at the same rate as it would with air on the surface, with respect to partial pressures. And even if that wasn't the case, the mass of the soil would only add ~1-2 kPa pressure (on Earth, less on Mars due to the lower gravity).
Re: (Score:2)
The concept is impossible. Water cannot exist in a liquid state in any Mars conditions (unless as previously stated concentrated by other factors, such as a strong perchlorate brine), and there is no oxygen for the roots to breathe (leaves make oxygen, but roots consume it, and die if it's not present in sufficient quantity).
Re: (Score:2)
Perchlorates can form a liquid brine because they're even more dehydrating than the near-vacuum atmosphree. Being in contact with them doesn't give you water, it extracts water from you.
You're talking terraforming. Not that even having photosynthetic bacteria survive on the surface of Mars is established; bacteria still need liquid water. Never mind that the surface of Mars is highly sterilizing.
Re: (Score:2)
Winter potatoes do not grow in the winter. The plant dies off at the first frost. The potatoes remain intact underground, but there is no growth. They remain dormant. They couldn't grow even if the plant had died off because they can't extract water from ice (aka, frozen soil).
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, duh! If you use Wikipedia too look up what's in Mars regolith and you fantasize that plants grow out of water alone, it's obviously easy.
Re: (Score:3)
plants grow out of water alone, it's obviously easy.
Water? Like out of the toilet?
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, you can grow things in Mars regolith. If you first remove the toxic perchlorates. And the hexavalent chromium. And the general excess of arsenic. And on and on. Basically, if you take a highly polluted natural material and remediate the various pollutants from it, then add water, you can grow plants in it. Well golly gee, whoda thunk that?
You won't be able to eat everything grown in the regolith, but you will be able to eat some plants [ecowatch.com].
Re:I hate these hype stories (Score:5, Interesting)
Mars One, seriously?
That alone is enough reason to discount them, but beyond that, they don't state what simulant they used. There are two main Mars regolith simulants out there. JSC MARS-1 (most recent, MARS-1A) is ash from the Pu'u Nene cinder cone (simply dug up and sieved); and MMS, which is crushed Mojave desert rock. They only match Mars (very, very roughly) in terms of bulk composition, not at all in terms of hygroscopic and toxic compounds (MMS is somewhat hygroscopic, MARS-1A not at all). Mars perchlorates are not just hygroscopic, they're delequescent. And it's packed full of toxic compounds you generally don't find on Earth (outside of superfund sites, at least ;) )
Re: (Score:2)
...So you're saying that for better experiments, we should make more superfund sites?
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, you can grow things in Mars regolith. If you first remove the toxic perchlorates. And the hexavalent chromium. And the general excess of arsenic. And on and on. Basically, if you take a highly polluted natural material and remediate the various pollutants from it, then add water, you can grow plants in it.
Sure, the toxic substances may need to be removed to make the potatoes safe for us to eat, but will they just, simply, grow without removing them? Growing and eating are two different things.
Re: (Score:2)
Right. Like it's not enough to show that they can be grown in Idaho.
Re: (Score:2)
But it's got what plants crave!
Re: (Score:2)
Big-ass fries? Oh wait...
Re: (Score:2)
I'm still kicking myself for wasting this opportunity to make a "But it's got what planets crave!" joke.
Another lost opportunity in life that won't come again.
Now all we need is ... (Score:3, Funny)
Tomatoes ?? I hear you ask.
Well, of course, you can't eat Fries without Ketchup, can you ?
Re:Now all we need is ... (Score:5, Informative)
Outside of the US, most people prefer mayonaise with their fries.
We need to raise chickens on Mars.
Re: (Score:3)
Outside of the US, most people prefer mayonaise with their fries.
True -- inside the US, most people prefer some fries with their bowl of mayonaise.
Re:Now all we need is ... (Score:4, Interesting)
Belgium != the rest of the world outside the U.S.
Different countries, different tastes. For France mustard would predominate, for Canada gravy & cheese curds, etc.
Re: (Score:3)
South Africa is mostly tomato sauce - of the thick and sticky variety (which is similar but I think not identical to what Americans call Ketchup).
Though cheese sauce has been growing in popularity in recent years - especially in pubs.
Re: (Score:3)
South Africa is mostly tomato sauce -
I'm surprised anyone can live in a country made up mostly of tomato sauce.
Re:Now all we need is ... (Score:4, Funny)
The struggle is real.
Re: (Score:2)
There's no need for that sort of filthy language, sir.
Re: (Score:2)
Belgium != the rest of the world outside the U.S.
Belgium != the only place where you commonly get a serving of mayo with fries.
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen Mayo/Fries elsewhere in Europe but it's most prevalent in Belgium
Re: (Score:2)
To be fair so are fries given how that's basically where they were invented :)
Re: (Score:2)
"Invented"? Meh. Parmentier was French. "Adopted as a national dish" certainly.
Re: (Score:2)
From my short visit to Belgium it didn't even seem like the main choice of condiment for fries anyways, but just one possibility of many. After I followed a local's lead and tried tartar sauce with fries I think I found a winner.
Re: (Score:2)
Outside of the US, most people prefer mayonaise with their fries. We need to raise chickens on Mars.
In Holland maybe, not too sure about elsewhere. Outside the US is a big place.
Re: (Score:2)
But I love me that West Coast IPA; the USA has evened the gap as far as beer and coffee is concerned. Still behind as far as cheese is concerned but now in the same league with France and Italy.
Beer on parity with Belgium and Germany
Coffee very close to Italy
Cheese - same league as France and Italy but still behind
Bread - still in the minors but catching up fast (Double A and Triple A in some areas)
Cured meats - still Am
Re: Now all we need is ... (Score:2)
Here in Iceland a ketchup-flavoured salt is popular on fries (us)/chips (uk)
Re: (Score:2)
Here in Iceland a ketchup-flavoured salt is popular on fries (us)/chips (uk)
That's really confusing - because there's salt in ketchup.
Re: (Score:2)
This is significantly saltier than ketchup. It's crystalline - you pour it on like salt. It's basically like adding both salt and ketchup to your fries/chips. Something that a lot of Americans already do, no?
Re: (Score:2)
Hasn't got as much spam in it as spam egg sausage and spam, has it?
Condiments (Score:3)
I can understand Aioli, but straight mayo? Ew.
Sure, straight mayo works on fries though that's rather boring just like ketchup is boring. Tartar sauce and aoili are great. So are all kinds of salad dressings. Honey mustard is tasty. BBQ sauce works. Melted cheese is great too. Honestly though if you wouldn't eat the fries plain (just salt) without dipping them in something first then they are crap fries not worthy of consumption. Whatever you are dipping fries into should make already good fries better. Same with hot dogs or other sausages - if
Re: (Score:2)
Poutine is fine but in my opinion highly overrated. I've spent loads of time in Canada and I've seldom had poutine that was actually good. Mostly it's a cheap crappy thin gravy with some not very tasty cheese curd thrown in on top of some badly done fries. It's a dish that is WAY more popular than the taste should justify. I'm sure it can be done well but that's not what is usually sold.
The trick is usually to get the chopped smoked brisket on top, but really what you need to do to really enjoy poutine is get really, really drunk first.
BBQ in Canada? (Score:2)
The trick is usually to get the chopped smoked brisket on top, but really what you need to do to really enjoy poutine is get really, really drunk first.
I've never had decent smoked brisket in Canada ever. Heck, it's hard to get it north of the Mason-Dixon line in the USA, though here and there you can find a decent BBQ joint up north. Maybe someone in Canada somewhere knows how to work a smoker but it's certainly not common in the bits I've been to.
If a food requires inebriation to enjoy I think I'll pass. Taco Bell tastes good when drunk too I'm told but it's still shitty food.
Montreal Smoked Meat (Score:2)
It's called Montreal Smoked Meat, it's famous
Had it and some of it was respectable but, at least from the places I had it, not even close to the quality of BBQ brisket I can get in the US nor as good as the brisket deli meats (pastrami & corned beef esp) I can get in NYC or a few other select places south of the border. I'm sure there are some places the do Montreal Smoked Meat extremely well but what I've had was merely decent at best. Bear in mind that when I say I haven't had great brisket in Canada you have to understand that I've had some
Re: (Score:2)
C'mon, someone mod this guy "funny"!
(And as the Sage of Springfield says "It's funny because its true!"
Re: (Score:2)
You can graft tomatoes to potato roots. If you can grow potato, you can grow tomato, if you use the graft technique.
Google "Amazing potato tomato". It's pre-grafted plants for your garden.
Re: (Score:2)
I can just imagine the huge tomacco plantations on Mars... ;)
Re: (Score:2)
I can just imagine the huge tomacco plantations on Mars... ;)
It's the only place the wildlife won't eat it all.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Have you not seen the movie "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"???
Yes I have. But I found "The Eggplant That Ate Chicago" more terrifying.
Re: (Score:2)
"... to be able to grow tomatoes."
Sure, why not? Just turn up the heat a bit. Heat? You weren't planning to grow potatoes at an average temperature of -50C I should hope.
Re: (Score:2)
Tomatoes ?? I hear you ask.
Well, of course, you can't eat Fries without Ketchup, can you ?
That's not true. As long as our astronauts are all over the age of 7 no-one is going to want ketchup anyway.
Ketchup is overrated (Score:2)
Well, of course, you can't eat Fries without Ketchup, can you ?
Of course you can. And you should. Not that a little ketchup is bad but if you wouldn't eat the fries plain with just some salt then they are badly made fries. Why eat something you have to disguise the taste of? I never understood people who pile so many condiments on that they can no longer taste the food they are eating. Condiments should be used in modest amounts to enhance the flavor, not to be the flavor. A dab of ketchup is fine but if ketchup is all you can taste why bother with the fries? Ke
Critical lack of lack of GRAVITY (Score:5, Interesting)
Like others who posted here, I'm very disappointed that the "CubeSat" is, in fact, not a "Sat" (Satellite) but just a dummy test environment here on plain old Earth. I guess it would have been nice to think that they had launched the thing into orbit (like on that 100+ satellite carrying Indian rocket) but I guess the cost and difficulty of making it space worthy (let alone human-spaceflight worthy to be sent to the ISS) was far greater than the budget of this marketing stunt. (And it was a stunt, as other posters have mentioned they eliminated so many of the bio-hazardous ingredients known to be on Mars, the soil was hardly an analog of Martian soil.)
However, this stupid marketing stunt did remind me of one thing that really needs to be examined, how does GRAVITY and the (partial) lack thereof affect our LONG-TERM prospects in space and throughout the solar system? Because except for maybe the clouds of Venus (and Saturn!) there will not be anywhere else in the solar system where we can find a remotely habitable environment that shares 1G. Will humans be able to become pregnant, bring babies to term, give birth and have them develop normally in a non-1G environment? If not in zero G what about on the moon (1/3 G) or Mars (1/6 G)? That is a huge question for which there has been no definitive research because it is very hard (impossible?) to mimic a less than 1G environment (even if you float an animal its internal organs are still subjected to 1G).
So what to do? Well I heard there WAS a plan to put a large centrifuge on the space station which could simulate various G levels for long periods of time. If so, while I'm sure it wouldn't have been large enough for humans to use (without massive disorientation due to the short radius), it would've been fine for mice and other small animal studies. This would've given us CRITICAL information on whether mammals at least would be able to reproduce on the moon or mars.
Without this data, the first colonists to go to the Moon and Mars are taking a tremendous risk with their most precious of possessions, their descendants. Unfortunately, their experiment (using their own families as subjects) and pioneering this new biological frontier could end in a terrible tragedy not just for them but for mankind.
Re: (Score:2)
Their "CubeSat" is just a glovebox. Dishonest.
Re: (Score:3)
>this stupid marketing stunt did remind me of one thing that really needs to be examined, how does GRAVITY and the (partial) lack thereof affect our LONG-TERM prospects in space and throughout the solar system?
Yep. We have lots of data on 1G and a lot on ~0G, but nothing significant on 0.16g (the Moon) or 0.38g (Mars).
That's why I'd really like to see us send a couple of experiment modules to Mars to see a few generations of mice and a few generations of plants under low-g.
Humans (Score:2)
Will humans be able to become pregnant, bring babies to term, give birth
IANAScientist, but I guess that less than 50% of humans will.
Re: (Score:2)
Why invest in a centrifuge? Start by keeping mice on the ISS for a few generations (a few years) in zero G. If they do OK in zero G, then they'll probably do OK in anything from zero to one.
Re: (Score:2)
Whoops! Yes stupid mistake that I made in my (parent) post. Mars is most definitely 1/3 G and the moon is 1/6 G. While humans are (probably) not going to be able to develop normally on the Moon (then again, I'm just guessing), I'm hoping that Mars might just provide enough gravity so that they would develop "normally".
Maybe they'll end up to be REALLY tall, super basketball players (just from development in 1/3 G, not counting evolutionary changes). Unfortunately, they'll probably never be able to stand
in fact its cold as hell (Score:4)
It gets too cold to grow stuff on Mars.
You'd have to have a heated, pressurized greenhouse.
Re:in fact its cold as hell (Score:5, Funny)
That's why Mars ain't no kind of place to raise your kids. Not to mention that there's no one there to raise them if you did.
Re: (Score:2)
"there's no one there to raise them if you did."
and all the science I don't understand
its just my job 5 days a week
Re: (Score:2)
They can (Score:2)
Can is one thing. Does is another.
Of course... (Score:2)
I already the book where a stranded guy grew potatos on Mars. The hard part is pooping enough to fertilise them all.
School Children in the year 2200 (Score:3)
School Children in the year 2200 will probably be reading about the Martian Potato famine.
Skip terraforming, get right down to brass tacks (Score:2)
Scientists and engineers at Lays Potato Chips are busy designing the first modular ETPCMM--Extra Terrestrial Potato Chip Maker Module as a proof-of-concept; that a regular astronaut can subsist on a diet of Potato chips, without soda, and without TV, but with a makeshift recliner.
If this is possible that means... (Score:2)
Ultraviolet (Score:2)
Learn something new everyday (Score:3)
that the "International Potato Center" is a real thing.
Coming Soon: Potato City on Mars (Score:2)
In an effort to increase revenues and promote tourism on Mars - NASA will open Potato City amusement park.
For those who don't have children or haven't watched Peppa Pig....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Ask a Martian (Score:2)
So Mars is for Ivan (Score:2)
Perfect for Russians who can eat potatoes and drink potato vodka, they like the color red too so red planet is perfect
From TFA (Score:2)
able to show proof that potatoes could grow in this dry, salty soil with some help from fertilized Earth soil
That's all. Hardly anything, really. Earth soil is in PLENTIFUL supply... on Mars. So basically potatoes WILL grow on Mars, provided you don't grow them in 100% Martian soil. Just order some Earth soil via Amazon I hear they have a special deal for delivery if you're a Prime member.
Cool (Score:2)
Speaking of which, how many potatoes does it take to starve an Irishman? None!
We don't call it terra-forming anymore... (Score:2)
We don't call it terra-forming anymore... We call it potato-forming.
Does anyone have actual information about this? (Score:2)
Growing plants on Mars (Score:2)
And yet, those soils are NOTHING EVEN REMOTELY LIKE Mars soil. Seriously people, we aren't going to grow anything on Mars.
We aren't going to grow anything on Mars anytime soon. FTFY. You forgot the word soon. If we actually send manned missions to Mars someday then it is very likely (nearly certain) that we would attempt to grow something there if for no other reason than scientific curiosity. Might not be something edible but I'm sure we'd try to grow some form of plant life. Whether that effort proves productive in any way is a different discussion.
Re: (Score:2)
>They know the Death Asteroid is coming
This is a statistical fact
> they must save The Species by getting us off this rock!
No. That would be stupid. To save the species it's quite important to ONLY get SOME of us off this rock. The problem is having everybody reliant on one rock. The whole point of space colonization is to have more than one rock so they won't all be hit at the same time.
>Because that other rock is much better.
Now NOBODY has EVER made THAT argument. What we have said is that it make
Re: (Score:2)
You forgot to mention "gravity well" and "mining asteroids" and "space factories", Space Nutter. Give it up, the human race evolved to live on Earth. It ain't going anywhere.
We did evolve to live on this planet, and we shall be at a huge disadvantage trying to live outside the realms of this planet. The difficulties and challenges are real. It's going to be ridiculously expensive and difficult to get self sustaining colonies on entities outside the earth.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't attempt it though, or that we shouldn't try. If humanity were wiped out, there would be no bringing us back. Given that we might be the only intelligent life in the galaxy, it would be a shame