> Recently, corn starch was employed as a binder for inorganic aggregates such as sand and limestone powder. Termed CoRncrete, these materials displayed impressive compressive strengths as high as 30 MPa; however, moisture sensitivity remained a key weakness for practical Earth-based applications.
> Having extremely limited amounts of water, the issue of moisture sensitivity is irrelevant for the Lunar and Martian environments – meaning a CoRncrete-like material could be well-suited for extraterrestrial construction. Furthermore, since starch is the primary constituent of staple foods such as rice, potatoes, and maize (corn), any sustained off-world habitat will likely have the capability to produce starch as food for inhabitants. To mitigate risks such as crop failure or poor yields, a surplus of starch will likely be produced under ordinary conditions: the use of surplus starch as a binder for regolith would therefore avoid the need for additional construction material fabrication equipment and supporting infrastructure.
I think someone from the IgNobel award committee wrote that headline?
A SpaceX representative has done the math and while potatoes make better bricks, human blood is cheaper. So if you'd like to be part of Elons new Mars colony sign up for our mission at your local human grind^H^H^H.. gathering center!
Science fiction already covered why you don't want 'Libertarian' billionaire types running your mars colony, so of course valley billionaires want to do it:
Just another instance of the Torment Nexus meme and valley sensibilities.
I remember when I admired these people and we didn't have civilizational wide meme's about how evil they are. Sad how things turned out. If only it could have been different. But that would require, you know, basic human compassion when instead they could just build bunkers and distant Hawaiian island escape compounds. And we can't blame them really, it's in their nature. They can't resist taking the wrong lesson from science fiction dystopias and they played Fallout.
Sometimes I fantasize about what lunar architecture might look like. Low gravity will enable architects to do pretty wild things. But with this material it may be even wilder.
> Recently, corn starch was employed as a binder for inorganic aggregates such as sand and limestone powder. Termed CoRncrete, these materials displayed impressive compressive strengths as high as 30 MPa; however, moisture sensitivity remained a key weakness for practical Earth-based applications.
> Having extremely limited amounts of water, the issue of moisture sensitivity is irrelevant for the Lunar and Martian environments – meaning a CoRncrete-like material could be well-suited for extraterrestrial construction. Furthermore, since starch is the primary constituent of staple foods such as rice, potatoes, and maize (corn), any sustained off-world habitat will likely have the capability to produce starch as food for inhabitants. To mitigate risks such as crop failure or poor yields, a surplus of starch will likely be produced under ordinary conditions: the use of surplus starch as a binder for regolith would therefore avoid the need for additional construction material fabrication equipment and supporting infrastructure.
I think someone from the IgNobel award committee wrote that headline?
I think the blood takes a bit more time to renew? Or are they expecting, uh, a bit more sacrifice...
>> "Astronauts probably don't want to be living in houses made from scabs and urine," he said in a statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8lT-Sn-HqE
Just another instance of the Torment Nexus meme and valley sensibilities.
I remember when I admired these people and we didn't have civilizational wide meme's about how evil they are. Sad how things turned out. If only it could have been different. But that would require, you know, basic human compassion when instead they could just build bunkers and distant Hawaiian island escape compounds. And we can't blame them really, it's in their nature. They can't resist taking the wrong lesson from science fiction dystopias and they played Fallout.