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posted by mrpg on Thursday November 08 2018, @05:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the going-back-to-its-roots dept.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20181031-how-fungus-and-sweat-could-transform-martian-exploration

[...] This magic biomaterial is mycelium, the vegetative part of the fungus. If you imagine that mushrooms are the 'fruits' of the fungus, mycelium could be regarded as its roots or stems. It looks like a mass of white thread-like structures, each called hyphae, which crisscross soil and other material in which fungi grows. Collectively, these threads are called mycelium and are the largest part of the fungus.

Mycelium has amazing properties. It is a great recycler, as it feeds off a substrate (like sawdust or agricultural waste) to create more material, and has the potential of almost limitless growth in the right conditions. It can endure more pressure than conventional concrete without breaking, is a known insulator and fire-retardant and could even provide radiation protection on space missions.

On Earth it's currently used to create ceiling panels, leather, packaging materials and building materials, but in outer space it stands out for its architectural potential, says artist and engineer Maurizio Montalti, who has teamed up with Ciokajlo.


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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday November 09 2018, @04:52AM (4 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 09 2018, @04:52AM (#759717) Journal

    [On a side note, this would explain much of the editorial behavior of the editors on SoylentNews of late. the Mycelium have taken control of the Central Processsing Unit, so as to insure that the SLS never comes to fruition, but the cheaper, and more mycelium friendly "SpaceX" is selected to fly the chosen spores to the Red Planet. For thousands of millennium have they waited. ]

    On a "side note", the last three or so years of your posting has been as rational as the arguments for SLS. Fortunately, they're not going to cost a few hundred Falcon Heavy launches before we find out that they're awful.

  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday November 09 2018, @09:06AM (3 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Friday November 09 2018, @09:06AM (#759788) Journal

    Wot? Mon khallow répond à mon commentaire? Il ressemble plus à un champignon. Peut-être qu'il ressent de l'affinité. Mais la réfutation évidente est non, la privatisation ne rapporte que les entrepreneurs, elle ne fait pas progresser la science et l'exploration spatiale.

    La réfutation évidente est non! Boire, soylentils!

    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Friday November 09 2018, @12:05PM (2 children)

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Friday November 09 2018, @12:05PM (#759812) Journal
      Respond in English, please. Google sez:

      But the obvious rebuttal is no, privatization only pays entrepreneurs, it does not advance science and space exploration.

      If that were true, we wouldn't have such things as say, Edison's lab or SpaceX (or billions of people benefiting from such things). So the obvious rebuttal is neither obvious or a rebuttal - sadly, a usual outcome of your musings. Meanwhile I manage to deliver - though the need for delivery was slight.

      Please, continue to show us how it's done.

      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday November 09 2018, @06:52PM (1 child)

        by aristarchus (2645) on Friday November 09 2018, @06:52PM (#759996) Journal

        Or Tesla or the Apollo missions. Entrepreneur stupide!

        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday November 10 2018, @01:44PM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Saturday November 10 2018, @01:44PM (#760337) Journal

          Or Tesla or the Apollo missions.

          What have the Apollo missions done lately? SpaceX is going to be affecting space development for decades or centuries to come. When Apollo stopped, no one, including the US, sent as much as a space probe to the Moon for almost two decades. In other words, it was worst than nothing in that it inhibited (and continues to inhibit) space development of the Moon.