Microbes May Help Astronauts Transform Human Waste Into Food (phys.org) 103
A Penn State researcher team has shown that it is possible to rapidly break down solid and liquid waste to grow food with a series of microbial reactors, while simultaneously minimizing pathogen growth. They reported their findings in the journal Life Sciences in Space Research. Phys.Org reports: To test their idea, the researchers used an artificial solid and liquid waste that's commonly used in waste management tests. They created an enclosed, cylindrical system, four feet long by four inches in diameter, in which select microbes came into contact with the waste. The microbes broke down waste using anaerobic digestion, a process similar to the way humans digest food. The team found that methane was readily produced during anaerobic digestion of human waste and could be used to grow a different microbe, Methylococcus capsulatus, which is used as animal feed today. The team concluded that such microbial growth could be used to produce a nutritious food for deep space flight. They reported in Life Sciences in Space Research that they grew M. capsulatus that was 52 percent protein and 36 percent fats, making it a potential source of nutrition for astronauts.
Because pathogens are also a concern with growing microbes in an enclosed, humid space, the team studied ways to grow microbes in either an alkaline environment or a high-heat environment. They raised the system's pH to 11 and were surprised to find a strain of the bacteria Halomonas desiderata that could thrive. The team found this bacteria to be 15 percent protein and 7 percent fats. At 158 degrees Fahrenheit, which kills most pathogens, they grew the edible Thermus aquaticus, which consisted of 61 percent protein and 16 percent fats.
Because pathogens are also a concern with growing microbes in an enclosed, humid space, the team studied ways to grow microbes in either an alkaline environment or a high-heat environment. They raised the system's pH to 11 and were surprised to find a strain of the bacteria Halomonas desiderata that could thrive. The team found this bacteria to be 15 percent protein and 7 percent fats. At 158 degrees Fahrenheit, which kills most pathogens, they grew the edible Thermus aquaticus, which consisted of 61 percent protein and 16 percent fats.
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That's a conspiracy theory, not facts.
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Hillary and Bill took hundreds of millions of dollars that were donated for Haitians and spent it on themselves. Bill then proceeded to go down there and RAPE little girls. These are the people you wanted in the White House? For shame. #HillaryForPrison
Lie
But you know that [washingtonpost.com]
World Food Problem Solved (Score:2, Funny)
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There's already more than enough food for everyone. It's why Paul Ehrlich's 1960s neo-Malthusian predictions of mass starvation in the 1970s never happened.
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Diet dependent ; Changes (Score:3)
There's already more than enough food for everyone.
It's more complicated than that. Depends on what people eat.
Globally, yes, planet earth can produce more food than need to keep everyone fed ( for a certain definition of "fed" ).
But if every body decide they want to have the same exact food diet as people in the developed world (think about USAmerican's love of steak. It's an entirely different approach to the word "fed" compared to above) : then you'll need at least 3 Earths worth of food production to keep everyone happy.
It's why Paul Ehrlich's 1960s neo-Malthusian predictions of mass starvation in the 1970s never happened.
No. That's more to do that those
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Meat replacement products are going to be huge in the near future. If you haven't tried something like an Impossible Burger you will be surprised just how much like real meat it actually is. And that's before we get to lab grown meat.
People will want this stuff not primarily because they care about the environment, but because it's healthier and cheaper. Meat grown in a sterile environment will need less drugs during it's lifetime, and will be engineered to be high quality/taste without all the effort that
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No. That's more to do that those predictions (which also serves as inspirations for movies such as Soylent Green) are based on what would happen if the then tendencies were kept as is
Denying the truth will not set you free.
Early editions of the book wrote, The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate.
The world's death rate has dropped by 23% since 1970.
He and his wife also completely missed the agricultural Green Revolution which had been happening for 40 years by 1968.
if everybody kept reproducing like rabbits, today's world might look a bit like the over-populated slum
Ehrlich's solution? H
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He and his wife also completely missed the agricultural Green Revolution which had been happening for 40 years by 1968.
He may have completely missed it, but you're missing the fact that these Green Revolutions aren't going to happen over and over again every time the world needs more food.
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And the world population is not forecasted to indefinitely grow, either. "10 billion" is the typical max, due to urbanization and the education of women.
Thus... no need for eternal green revolutions (or the forced starvation of countries, which Ehrlich thought was a great idea).
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Try selling at as lager.
They already do. It's called Coors Light.
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IT'S PEOPLE!
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>Looks like they've solved the 3rd world food problem. Just don't tell anyone what it's made from.
We don't really have a 'food' problem, we have an energy problem... it's just that Nature's put a lot of unnecessary steps between us and the energy source.
Let's say, in theory, you could wear one of these reactor kits on a belt with a tube coming out your rectum as its input, and a tube feeding your stomach as its output... you're still not a perpetual motion machine. It takes energy to convert bodily wast
Prior art. (Score:5, Funny)
They already make a substance that appears to be bioprocessed human waste. It's called Marmite.
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In New Zealand, I actually developed a taste for this. One of our species' principal survival advantages is the amazing variety of things we can eat.
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Normally. I wouldn't, but this reaction is perfect (see at 00:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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You misspelled "Velveeta".
I have a better solution! (Score:2)
Microbes + plants + animals + sun creates food for humans (and for themselves) from dirt.
This is a set of well established processes we haven't fully understood. This is why we are trying to destroy them.
So "just microbes" is less effective.
Eat-a-Tweet (Score:1)
Eat-a-Tweet
It might be nutritious... (Score:3, Funny)
...but I hear it tastes like shit.
Growing microbes in vats for food (Score:2)
reminds me of Trantor in Asimov's Federation Series, where they grew microbes (yeast in the story) in huge vats to feed 40 billion people.
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You're right. One of the regions grew yeast, and -- in the decades since I read it -- must have forgotten one and magnified the other.
Re: "astronauts" (Score:3)
Real world food ? (Score:3)
And by the way, the stuff that these scientists created from human dukey is not food. It may have a similar ratio of fats & protein as food, but it's not food. Astronauts will eat each other before they eat some cultured turd yogurt.
And what do you think real food is made from ?
Which substances do you think the plants process to transform into more plants (i.e.: more food) thanks to the solar power ?
Do you really think that plants make themselves using solidified light ?
HINT: Look up the word "manure".
This project is basically doing the same thing, only scaled down and accelerated by using a different set of bacteria and yeast only, compared to the usual set of bacteria + plants that do the exact same stuff every day in agriculture.
(Bu
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Human waste have been used as fertilizer for a long time. People gladly ate the vegetables/fruits so produced.
=> People have eaten converted human shit.
Astronauts/cosmonauts are selected by people that are rational and scientific - exactly the kind of persons that would understand that their food is not shit.
And they are less likely to become cannibals as they understand the problems that brings.
What happened to you? Even when you posted stuff I absolutely did not agree with you had some intelligence bak
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You're confusing me with someone else. As a relative newcomer, you might not be aware that all of my posts are transformed human waste turned into food for astronauts, eaten, turned into human waste again, and then turned into Slashdot comments.
India (Score:5, Funny)
Quite normal. (Score:4, Insightful)
Microbes May Help Astronauts Transform Human Waste Into Food
since Astronauts Transform Food Into Human Waste Thanks To Microbes.
Halfway milestone already reached! (Score:2)
The research to turn shit into butter has already reached the 50% mark.
It spreads already as it should, just the taste is still slightly off.
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That idea makes my stomach churn.
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Mission accomplished.
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That idea makes my stomach churn.
Thus helping complete the cycle.
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they already drink filtered pee
If the filtered pee happens to be even better than Evian water thanks to a wonderful purifying process, wouldn't you drink it?
Eat shit and Fly (Score:1)
No one has made the connection yet. (Score:3)
If this tech is developed for Space travel or is an outcome of research into supporting us in space then it can most likely be ported into farming.
Who says this tech has to be used to feed humans directly. Why can't use it to improve the efficiency of animal husbandry. We can use farm wastes to more directly loop back into the production cycle. We could use it to improve the production of meat, textiles, milk, medical supplies etc.
Why not feed the outputs to say ants, and in return feed the ants to other stocks. Thus further diversifying the various protein chains making the process even more benificial.
Or we do more engineering and create organic polymers from the protein. Thus a replacement for many of the plastics in use today.
It does not have to directly feed us. As a matter of fact it can help reduce the costs associated with meat etc.
The key to the process is that it is a bio reactor that minimises infections and contamination. Thus making it more robust as an industrial system.
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AD is already used on a number of farms in Europe, the issue being that the liquid byproduct is quite high in phosphorus and so needs additional treatment before discharge, which means more cost and infrastructure.
>Or we do more engineering and create organic polymers from the protein
The kind of biopolymers which bacteria produce are mostly just carbon based, not protein based. There's already a decent amount of work into this, e.g. AirCarbon [newlight.com] claim to turn methane into plastic.
>The key to the process
Marketing crap (Score:4, Funny)
This will obviously by marketed as Soylent Brown.
(Spoiler: it's poople!)
Can this program be instituted... (Score:2)
Could have told them that from ... (Score:3)
... playing "Oxygen Not Included". After giving my whole colony food poisoning by using contaminated water in the musher, the principle and what is important became quite clear.
Soylent Green is (Score:2)
feces
MMMMM..... (Score:2)
I can see it now...
NASA exec: "Why is no one answering our ad for Astronaut training?"
NASA drone worker: "I think it's the food plan and people not wanting to eat their own shit"
small bites (Score:2)
Better learn to take small bites.
Well this is...... (Score:1)