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Space Beans 2021

posted by Fnord666 on Monday January 14 2019, @10:31AM   
from the beans-beans-the-musical-fruit dept.

takyon writes:

Astronauts Could Be Growing Beans in Space in 2021

Following the much-celebrated harvest of a head of romaine lettuce aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, astronauts' vacuum-packed vittles may be kicked up a notch as early as 2021 with the addition of space-grown beans. More salad fixings are also in the cards. After that? The galaxy's the limit.

"The dream of every astronaut is to be able to eat fresh food like strawberries, cherry tomatoes or anything that's really flavorful," Silje Wolff, a plant physiologist at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Space (CIRiS) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said in a statement. "Someday that will certainly be possible. We envision a greenhouse with several varieties of vegetables."

Wolff recently wrapped up an experiment where lettuce grew in space in specialized planters that regulate all the water, nutrients, gas and air the plants need.

Though she used artificial soil derived from lava rock as a substrate, Wolff says the goal is for the plants to grow directly in water infused with life-sustaining nutrients. In space, she noted, all the water and food must be recovered, which means that plant fertilization needs to be "as precise as possible."

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Original Submission

• Re:green beans? pinto beans? adzuki beans? Re:green beans? pinto beans? adzuki beans? (Score: 5, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 14 2019, @02:08PM (1 child)

  by Runaway1956 (2926) on Monday January 14 2019, @02:08PM (#786437) Journal

  To all but eliminate the gas from beans, add baking soda to your presoak water. When it's time to pour off that water, it will be disgusting, with a layer of scummy foam on top of it. Dump that off, rinse thoroughly, put fresh water on the beans, and cook normally. You may still get a little gas, but it won't nearly be what you are accustomed to. For one pound of beans use about three tablespoon of baking soda.

  The first citation I find for that, suggests only 1/16 tsp per quart of water - https://nutritionfacts.org/questions/does-adding-baking-soda-to-soaking-beans-reduce-raffinose/ [nutritionfacts.org]

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+3
  Interesting=2, Informative=1, Total=3
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Karma-Bonus Modifier		+1
  Total Score:		5

• Re:green beans? pinto beans? adzuki beans? (Score: 2) by stretch611 on Monday January 14 2019, @03:09PM

  by stretch611 (6199) on Monday January 14 2019, @03:09PM (#786446)

  Killjoy.

  After all whats the harm with a few "Pull My Finger" jokes in space?

  You can always retreat to a spacesuit if the air quality is that low.

  Or better yet, what a great practical joke to feed an astronaut beans before a space walk creating a self-sealed Dutch Oven [urbandictionary.com] in their spacesuit.

  --
  Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P

  Parent