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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
You may've heard that astronauts on the International Space Station recycle their own pee into drinking water, but space travelers could also one day upcycle their own urine into tools and other useful items.
Researchers from Clemson University are exploring ways that strains of yeast can be used to convert nitrogen from urine and carbon dioxide from astronauts' breath (or perhaps the atmosphere of Mars) into useful substances like nutrients or polymers. One strain of engineered yeast creates polyester polymers that could be used in 3D printers to create needed tools or parts for a long space mission.
The researchers presented their work Tuesday at the 254th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Washington.
[...] Having "a biological system that astronauts can awaken from a dormant state" and start using to produce what they need, when they need it, is the project's motivation, Blenner said.
See also: EurekAlert.
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(Score: 0, Offtopic) by aristarchus on Sunday August 27 2017, @12:03PM (1 child)
But could a Buzzard who is Mighty, forge that pee into a weapon that could vanquish his greatest foe, a troll that undercuts his libertarian ideology, a commentor that flummoxes and deteriolates all that he says, a Soylentil who truly believes in free speech, and not only Nazi, Milo, MRA, and Von Mises free speech? He could, if only he could work that pee into a moderation ban for the foe, one that since it is made of astronaught pee, would be like the diamond rain of the outer gas giant planets. Or, he could just have the guy banned. Not censorship, not oppression, not discrimination: still smells like piss.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 27 2017, @12:16PM
Piss it may be, but a mighty one.