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Fringey Mini: Blood and urine for the space scientists! · Journey to the Fringe

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  In this off time, I didn't file them, but I've
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  given them fancy titles. So let's see, we got
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  Feeling Like a Tailor Mini. You probably don't
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  want to pick that one. I don't even know why
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  I saved that one. That doesn't sound like it's
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  for me. We got Need to Know. We got Idiot We
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  Love to Hate. I wonder who that is. No, we already
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  did that one. Done. I take it back. Zebra Muscle
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  Adjacent? Bunkers? Whale sad? Whales in language?
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  Which whales? I don't know. Blood versus potato?
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  Cling wrap? This is a good list. That's all I
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  got. What do you want? Let's go with blood versus
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  potatoes. I hope it wasn't filed wrong. Well,
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  whatever's there. Let's see it. Okay, it's from
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  space .com posted by Josh Dinner, March 23rd,
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  2023. God damn it. Why are they always old? Potatoes
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  are better than human blood for making space
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  bricks, scientists say. Nobody asked you, scientists.
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  They're doing the real science work. Engineers
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  have created an intriguing concrete alternative
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  using simulated Martian or lunar soil, potato
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  starch and salt. space concrete is twice as strong
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  as conventional concrete, the researchers say.
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  They hope the new material will eventually facilitate
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  construction efforts on the moon and Mars. In
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  a new study published in the journal Open Engineering,
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  two researchers from the University of Manchester
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  in England demonstrate the effectiveness of potato
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  starch as a binder to create the novel Starcrete.
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  I like that. In their study, concrete mixtures
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  using simulated Martian and lunar soil featured
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  strengths more than double that of ordinary concrete
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  which has a comprehensive strength measuring
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  about 32 megapascals MPa. The starcrete mixed
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  with foam Martian soil clocked in at 72 MPa while
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  the mixture using simulated lunar regolith came
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  in even stronger at 91 MPa. Stronger concretes
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  typically last longer but that isn't starcrete's
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  major advantage as the potential building material
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  on the moon or mars. The scientists estimate
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  that just 55 pounds of dehydrated potatoes could
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  be used to produce nearly half a ton of starcrete
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  which is enough to sculpt over 200 bricks. For
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  context you need about 7500 bricks to construct
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  a three -bedroom house here on earth. I love
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  the tone. of this article. Typical materials
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  needed to mix concrete come with considerable
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  weight. For future lunar and martian constructions,
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  as with any space mission, weight reduction is
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  a big priority, whether it be a satellite, cargo
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  to the International Space Station, or materials
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  to build a house on the moon. The heavier a payload,
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  the more cost prohibitive it is to launch into
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  space, so the less weight the better. Capitalizing
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  on the resources available at an astronaut's
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  destination to supplement supplies that are difficult
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  or expensive to send from Earth known as in situ
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  resource utilization, ISRU. That's how I know
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  it. That's why it gave me a little bit of trouble.
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  Has long been the strategy when researching how
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  humans might create sustainable outposts on other
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  planetary bodies. Where's the blood? So the strength
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  and durability made possible by a lightweight
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  potato starch based concrete mix holds high potential
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  over conventional materials when it comes to
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  otherworldly construction, the study team says.
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  How could this possibly tie in with blood? Do
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  you think the next best thing is mixing the space
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  rocks with blood? They seem to have settled on
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  blood would have been a good one and then like
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  got a bit I don't know convinced somehow that
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  it actually I don't know it said it right in
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  the title though, right? Yeah, but I don't see
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  how they got to the point of these are the two
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  things we're down to Well, potato starch wasn't
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  the first, oh, oh, the first medium that University
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  of Manchester scientists tested in their search
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  for ISRU building supplies. In a previous study,
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  the same team explored the possibility of using
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  human blood and urine as binding agent. There
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  we go. We guessed it right. It was the next sentence
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  for their extraterrestrial concrete. Who in their
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  right mind would think let's mix it with blood?
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  I think their thought process is what we They
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  already have to transport blood and urine up
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  there in the form of a human. Maybe we can use
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  that when they get there, so we don't have to
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  add anything. I mean, urine, yes, but why the
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  blood? They're both renewable resources, which
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  is the great thing. Well, sometimes. Unless it's
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  too much blood. Or too much urine. yeah exactly
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  and like if you're letting out blood in space
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  like is it easy to stop i don't know these are
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  the important questions maybe it's the next sentence
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  let's read on the blood and urine of astronauts
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  after all are renewable resources hey how did
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  you know they stole my idea and they're available
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  wherever an astronaut's mission might take them
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  this is wild concrete from the researchers trials
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  using blood and urine i'm sorry these trials
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  were probably insane that helps it's filled out
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  of space rocks of blood and urine it'll last
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  for years also produce strength above traditional
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  mixtures measuring about 40 mp8 these bricks
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  construction However would require the astronauts
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  repeatedly drain their own bodily fluids, which
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  has been viewed as a drop I'm I'm good to end
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  it there. I just They didn't even like the smell
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  or the fact yeah, okay, I Don't know. I just
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  feel like we there's not much more. Okay. Okay,
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  okay? I'll lid Roberts the lead researcher for
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  the star creep project and research fellow for
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  the future biomanufacturing research hub at the
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  University of Manchester, concedes that using
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  potato flakes is preferable to blood and beef.
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  Begrudgingly. Okay, if you say so. Fine. Quote.
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  Astronauts probably don't want to be living in
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  houses made from scabs and urine, end quote,
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  he said in a statement. If that disappoints any
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  current or future space travelers, go ahead and
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  cry about it, but fret not. The opportunity to
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  contribute literal parts of yourself into the
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  construction of your Martian home isn't completely
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  lost. The specific salt compound used in the
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  potato -based darkrete mixture is magnesium chloride,
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  which can be abstracted from Martian soils. or
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  luckily for you, human tears. End of article.
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  That was beautiful. I can't wait till they end
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  up having to choose astronauts by how depressed
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  they are or like how often they cry. And will
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  you miss your family a lot? You'll probably miss
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  them a lot, doesn't that just? That was an incredible
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  article. And the fact that they were testing
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  this. I wonder who's living in a house made of
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  blood and pee. Because it's so strong. Specifically
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  an astronaut's blood and pee. Anyhow, that's
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  our mini for this week. And you know what? You
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  guys got 48 hours. You find a better use in space
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  for blood and pee. And then get back to us. Because
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  I'm really curious about all the ways they could
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  be using that stuff. I bet you can't. You got
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  48 hours. Bye. Bye.