WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Could Human Waste Feed Astronauts?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bam here with another classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>from our archives. Among the many puzzles and problems that

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<v Speaker 1>we need to solve before we could send astronauts off

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<v Speaker 1>on long term missions to the Moon, let alone such

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<v Speaker 1>far away places as Mars, is the fact that humans

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<v Speaker 1>need to eat, and that it's a psychological issue as

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<v Speaker 1>well as a physical one, which brings us to today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>could human waste feed astronauts? Hi brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel

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<v Speaker 1>bomb here, a manned mission to Mars might take around

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<v Speaker 1>six months. Suffice it to say, when meal times roll around,

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<v Speaker 1>astronauts won't be dialing up delivery pizza and root. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>they may be eating nutrition derived from their own fecal matter,

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<v Speaker 1>a concept that would save on cargo space and wait

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<v Speaker 1>while maximizing materials already found on the spacecraft. At Penn

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<v Speaker 1>State Universe, the scientists are developing a system that leverages

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<v Speaker 1>certain types of microbes that convert human solid waste into

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<v Speaker 1>protein and fat Latin foods. Researchers, for better or Worse,

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<v Speaker 1>have already called the result a microbial goo that's sort

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<v Speaker 1>of reminiscent of Vegemite, a comparison that seems unlikely to

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<v Speaker 1>please Vegemites corporate executives. Because it's difficult and time consuming

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<v Speaker 1>to grow food in space, astronauts have to rely on

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<v Speaker 1>items in their closed environment. The lynch pin of the

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<v Speaker 1>system is anaerobic digestion, which can break down certain materials

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<v Speaker 1>without the need for oxygen. It's a common process for

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<v Speaker 1>reducing municipal waste on Earth. In tests, the digestion process

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<v Speaker 1>produced methane gas. That gas turns out to be useful

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<v Speaker 1>in growing a microbe called Methylococcus capsulattice, which is already

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<v Speaker 1>used for animal feed pellets and contains about fifty protein

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty six percent fat content. According to the National

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<v Speaker 1>Academy of Sciences, humans function best when they ingest nutrition

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<v Speaker 1>with about fifty carbohydrates, twenty percent fat, and tend to protein.

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<v Speaker 1>So the goose still has a ways to go before

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<v Speaker 1>it can count as an ideal food source. The tests

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<v Speaker 1>relied on substitute liquid and solid waste instead of actual

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<v Speaker 1>human wastes. When the real thing is introduced, there will

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<v Speaker 1>also be concerns about pathogens that could cause illnesses. That's

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<v Speaker 1>where tweaking the pH levels and or temperatures may help.

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<v Speaker 1>Tests showed that by increasing the system's temperatures to around

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred and fifty eight degrees fahrenheit that seventy degrees celsius,

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<v Speaker 1>most germs were eliminated, yet the nutritious microbe Thermis aquaticus survived. Alternately,

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<v Speaker 1>they raised the alkalinity of another batch and found that

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria called halo Monus deciderrata still managed to proliferate while

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<v Speaker 1>germs did not. The team borrowed concepts from commercial aquarium

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<v Speaker 1>filters that use fixed film filters to neutralize fish waste.

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<v Speaker 1>The filters incorporate a bacteria laden film and were adapted

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<v Speaker 1>by researchers to accommodate methane production. The result solid waste

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<v Speaker 1>can be treated in a matter of hours instead of

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<v Speaker 1>days plus. Because the system is self contained, it really

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't require much babysitting other than you know, the necessary inputs.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's also the matter of taste. Lisa Steinberg, the

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<v Speaker 1>lead author on the study, says that the bacteria could

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<v Speaker 1>be mixed with other materials and flavorings to make it

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<v Speaker 1>more palatable. She said in an email, it's nearly certain

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<v Speaker 1>that there would be plants grown in conjunction with this

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<v Speaker 1>food stuff, which would provide additional flavors and textures. And

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<v Speaker 1>what about the potential psychological issues associated with consuming a

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<v Speaker 1>material of such dreary origins. Steinberg said astronauts already have

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<v Speaker 1>to drink their own processed urine, so they're probably accustomed

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<v Speaker 1>to things being done differently in space than on Earth.

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<v Speaker 1>Some astronauts on the International Space Station do already recycle

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<v Speaker 1>some of their urine. Poop, on the other hand, has

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<v Speaker 1>a more spectacular ending. It's blasted into space, caught on

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<v Speaker 1>Earth's orbit, and then burns up like a shooting star

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<v Speaker 1>on reentry. Yes, in space, poop has historically been a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe now poop will be part of the solution. While

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<v Speaker 1>these still experimental concept may not exactly fire up astronauts appetites,

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<v Speaker 1>it may eventually provide sustenance to space explorers who have

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<v Speaker 1>a limited buffet options among the stars. Today's episode was

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<v Speaker 1>written by Nathan Chandler and produced by Tristan McNeil and

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang. For more on this and lots of other

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<v Speaker 1>far out topics, visit House to Forks dot com. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple podcasts,

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