Living Carbon Chomping FrankenBricks for the Moon, Mars, and Mainstreet
RandomFactor writes:
Engineers at the University of Colorodo, Boulder have demonstrated a novel building material that grows, has self repair capability, and sequesters carbon.
The microbes in the brick are cyanobacteria, which perform photosynthesis to grow, taking in carbon dioxide. They produce a powdery substance called calcium carbonate - the main ingredient in cement - which toughens the material.
The bacteria are mixed with sand and common gelatin like you would buy in a supermarket and require a humid environment to grow.
If researchers can develop a version of the mixture that can withstand dry temperatures, the bricks could even offer a way to build future structures on the Moon or Mars, since less building material would need to be launched and carried on a spacecraft.
This is similar to the myco-architecture project out of NASA's Ames Research Center in California, which aims to grow habitats on the moon and Mars using fungi.
"Right now, traditional habitat designs for Mars are like a turtle - carrying our homes with us on our backs - a reliable plan, but with huge energy costs," said Lynn Rothschild, the principal investigator on the early-stage project.
"Instead, we can harness mycelia (vegetative part of a fungus) to grow these habitats ourselves when we get there".
Ultimately, the project envisions a future where human explorers can bring a compact habitat built out of a lightweight material with dormant fungi that will last on long journeys to places like Mars.
Upon arrival, by unfolding that basic structure and simply adding water, the fungi will be able to grow around that framework into a fully functional human habitat - all while being safely contained within the habitat to avoid contaminating the Martian environment.
These technologies have the potential to reduce our carbon footprint on Earth as well. The construction industry is responsible for 11% of global carbon emissions (39% when heating/cooling/power are included).
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