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posted by martyb on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:14AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-needed-plenty-of-???? dept.

Earthworms seem to enjoy Mars-like soil just fine after you add poop and water to it:

Two young worms are the first offspring in a Mars soil experiment at Wageningen University & Research. Biologist Wieger Wamelink found them in a Mars soil simulant that he obtained from NASA. At the start he only added adult worms. The experiments are crucial in the study that aims to determine whether people can keep themselves alive at the red planet by growing their own crops on Mars soils.

[...] 'The positive effect of adding manure was not unexpected', added Wamelink, 'but we were surprised that it makes Mars soil simulant outperform Earth silver sand'. Researchers added organic matter from earlier experiments to both sands. They added the manure to a sample of the pots and then, after germination of the rucola, they added the worms. The result: pots with all possible combinations with the exception of organic matter which was added to all of the pots.

Worms are very important for a healthy soil, not only on Earth but also in future indoor gardens on Mars or the moon. They thrive on dead organic matter such as old plant remains, which they eat, chew and mix with soil before they excrete it. This poo still contains organic matter that is broken down further by bacteria, thus releasing nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium for use by the plants. By digging burrows the worms also aerate and improve the structure of the soil, making watering the plants more effective.


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  • (Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:38AM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:38AM (#603390)

    I read the article a few days ago on a Dutch biology/ecology news site. The "Martian" soil they use is actually desert soil with similar composition as real Martian soil.

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by sonamchauhan on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:51AM (2 children)

    by sonamchauhan (6546) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @11:51AM (#603394)
  • (Score: 2) by inertnet on Thursday November 30 2017, @01:26PM (3 children)

    by inertnet (4071) on Thursday November 30 2017, @01:26PM (#603415) Journal

    Add a similar life form: lawyers.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by Thexalon on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:20PM (2 children)

      by Thexalon (636) on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:20PM (#603426)

      Why are you hating on earthworms?

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 5, Funny) by inertnet on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:56PM (1 child)

        by inertnet (4071) on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:56PM (#603445) Journal

        I'm sorry, I was assuming they were related because one can never be sure if one is dealing with its front or back end.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:49PM (5 children)

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @02:49PM (#603443) Journal

    Let's go back to my Navy days. "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man you battle stations. Engineering, boiler room 2 has a simulated battle casualty . . . blah blah blah."

    Simulated casualties. We're going to walk through a missile (or gun, or mine, or torpedo) hit, and pretend that there is damage, and further, pretend to fix that damage. It's kinda alright, in that, we do walk through the motions, and get an idea what we SHOULD do if we ever suffer a battle casualty. However - I never had to go into a pitch black space, with only the battle helmet on my brainbucket. I never had to fight water raging in through a gaping hole, just to get to the damaged hull. Never had to carry bits and pieces of a man out of the boiler room. I remain, to this day, unprepared to actually repair the damage caused by enemy action. Very few of my shipmates were really prepared for such a situation. But, we got high marks on our simulations. It sure made the officers confident.

    So, Martian soil simulant. I call horse shit - except, horse shit is a known good fertilizer. They got some rocks that sorta almost resemble Mars soil. Except, that soil is held at earth temperature, with an earth atmosphere, and earth ambient levels of radiation, at earth gravity. Have I missed anything? Simulant. Like our simulated battle casualties, I suppose this little test makes someone feel good. There's not a reason on earth - or Mars - why it should, but it makes them feel good.

    Mental masturbation, I guess you could call this.

    I hope they take a load of horse shit starter with them, to feed any earthworms they plan on putting into their closed environment. Of course, once the starter kit runs out, they had better be feeding them whatever is available. People shit. It's what they have to work with, they'd better plan on using it.

    • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:17PM (2 children)

      by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:17PM (#603455) Journal

      Except, that soil is held at earth temperature, with an earth atmosphere, and earth ambient levels of radiation, at earth gravity.

      Your point about Earth temperature and atmosphere is irrelevant because the plan is to grow the crops indoors, using a mixture of Martian dirt and good old poop.

      Radiation may be a concern but there is some amount of protection from the thin Martian atmosphere, Mars's greater distance from the Sun, and the walls of the "greenhouse" or structure they are growing in.

      Gravity could be a concern, but crops [wikipedia.org] have been grown in the microgravity environment of the ISS.

      --
      [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:44PM (1 child)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:44PM (#603468) Journal

        Crops have grown in microgravity - yes. But, they haven't germinated, grown, gone to seed, for multiple generations yet. Like, thousand of generations. I'm not saying that they WON'T reproduce properly, but we don't yet know that they WILL.

        Now, despite the plans, temperature and atmosphere will be a concern. Are they planning on raised beds, as in, "up off of the ground and floor"? We pretty much use only one type of heat, that being forced air. If Martian settlers don't use forced are, how do they plan on heating? My point being - they need to keep the soil warm, to the lowest depths that the plant's roots might grow. A pot full of dirt sitting on a cold floor, with warm air blowing across it isn't exactly what our crops experience here on earth.

        You know what I thik is going to happen? All our best minds here on earth are going to make their best guesses about how to grow stuff on Mars. And, it's mostly going to fail. Maybe all of it will fail. First generation anything is first generation, after all. The people who are THERE will make observations, and adjustments, and over time, figure out what works, and what doesn't work.

        Hey, don't ask ME what will work!! I'm not there. I'm not even then!!

        • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday November 30 2017, @04:40PM

          by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Thursday November 30 2017, @04:40PM (#603503) Journal

          Crops have grown in microgravity - yes. But, they haven't germinated, grown, gone to seed, for multiple generations yet. Like, thousand of generations. I'm not saying that they WON'T reproduce properly, but we don't yet know that they WILL.

          Well of course not. To know that for sure we'd have to go there and try it. In fact we'll probably have to go there, try it, fail, go again, try again taking the previous failure into account, fail again in a slightly different way, go and try again and so on until we get it right.

          Step 1 though, before any of that, is to gather information and use it to make the best plan possible plan with the limited data available, in order to make that first attempt as successful and instructive as it can be. I mean that first attempt is going to be VERY expensive and risky, so as much preparation as possible makes sense. Simulations and approximations aren't the best tools, but they are a hell of a lot better than nothing.

    • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday November 30 2017, @04:52PM (1 child)

      by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Thursday November 30 2017, @04:52PM (#603508) Journal

      Can drills and simulations prepare you for a real battle? Of course not, not all the way. I've never been in battle either and I'm not going to pretend that I can ever really imagine what it's like. But surely all a battle simulation is is an attempt to transfer the lessons learned by people who HAVE gone through it (and survived) to the people who haven't yet had to.

      But let me ask you this: If you were sailing into a battle, would you rather go with a crew that had gone through many such simulations and drills, or one that hadn't? If your answer is "the crew that had done the simulations" then you have to admit that the simulations have SOME value.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:11PM

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:11PM (#603521) Journal

        My smart assed answer popped into my head. I thought, "No, no, calm down - Great Aunti is being serious." But, I thought of my smart assed answer again. And, it's not all that smart assed, really. "The only winning move is not to play."

        Anyway, that out of the way - the simulations have extremely limited value, but they do have value.

        I should point out my age again. I was among the first who were to young to serve in Vietnam, to join the Navy postwar. I was trained beside combat veterans, by combat veterans. They said much the same - simulations don't count for squat, the first time the shit really hits the fan. They help you to remember whether the AFFF hose reel is on the port or the starboard side of the ship, but it doesn't prepare you for the recoil of the damned thing when you turn it on for real. HINT: never charge a fire hose until your feet are solidly planted on deck. If you lose control, it will beat you to death.

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:36PM (5 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @03:36PM (#603466) Journal

    Will edible plants grow in this Mars simulant soil, with earthworms, in a Mars like atmosphere and solar cycle?

    If so, would they spread and spread to cover the entire planet?

    Is there enough moisture in the soil on Mars, the planet, for actual plant growth? (Or do we even know?)

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:32PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:32PM (#603531)

      Since you already poo on the fields, just pee at them, too. :-)

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:44PM (2 children)

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:44PM (#603610) Journal

        That simply moves the problem of where the water comes from.

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
        • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:46PM (1 child)

          by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday November 30 2017, @07:46PM (#603612) Journal

          How much water is contained in a whoosh?

          --
          The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
          • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:00PM

            by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday November 30 2017, @10:00PM (#603677) Journal

            Probably enough water to be worth ten million dollars on Mars.

            --
            People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:34PM

      by Freeman (732) on Thursday November 30 2017, @05:34PM (#603533) Journal

      Compared to Earth, we've barely scratched the surface. Even on Earth, we've barely scratched the surface, but we don't generally care too much about what's going on down below, so long as it doesn't kill us. Oh, also, if it could make us a profit. We like profit.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Friday December 01 2017, @01:49AM

    by tftp (806) on Friday December 01 2017, @01:49AM (#603759) Homepage

    There was a soldier, who had served his time and now he went home. Near the forest he saw a little cottage and he decided to ask for a night’s lodging. The hostess opened the door but said:
    - I would give to you the lodging gladly, but I have nothing to offer to eat for you. I´m so sorry!
    - I don’t need any food, said the soldier. If you only have an old axe, then I could cook some good axe soup.
    The woman was so surprised, she sought an old axe. The soldier washed it and put it in the pot. After some time he tasted the soup and said:
    - Very rank, if we have a little piece of pork, then it wouldn´t be so rank.
    When the hostess went out to bring the pork from the storeroom, the soldier threw the axe out. When the pork had boiled some minutes he tasted again:
    - Still rank. The pork only doesn’t help. We need a piece of mutton. And he got a piece of mutton, too. After tasting it he said:
    - Still rank. Have you a bit ground barley?
    The woman had.
    - Very strange, still rank. Maybe you have two or three potatoes? Potatoes are always most bland. It can take this rank less. And they added the potatoes, too.

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