If we haven't learned by now over the past year, just because scientists say you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD:
Water is scarce on Mars and it costs $2 million to send a single brick to the Red Planet, according to estimates. But astronauts can simply make their own concrete on-site using Martian dust and their own blood, according to findings published this month in the journal Materials Today Bio.
And it's not a theoretical thing. According to the study, scientists have already made a concrete-like substance called "AstroCrete" using human blood and synthetic regolith, which is the scientific term for soil on Mars and the moon.
Here's a pic from the University of Manchester:
The mixture works because of human serum albumin, a common protein found in the plasma of human blood. The protein curdles when it's dehydrated, creating a strong bonding agent that pulls the dust together.
There's nothing like living in a home made out of curdled blood!
It gets even better though.
Did you know when you mix urea into blood and dirt, it makes an even stronger concrete??
The blood-and-dust mixture alone is equivalent to concrete, but researchers say it becomes even stronger when human urea is added to the mix. This golden touch — urea comes from sweat, tears and urine — increases the strength of AstroCrete by 300 per cent.
I get it. I really do. This is a brilliantly expedited way to create building materials. You can even 3D print the things.
Oh, for those wondering:
The paper doesn't say anything about the smell, but AstroCrete structures would likely protect a sealed inner shell made from something else, so one wouldn't be in direct contact with the piss-and-blood bricks. Their main job, according to the paper, would be to keep out radiation and the fierce Martian dust storms.
Just wonderful.
Is harvesting people's blood to make concrete REALLY the way to create the first human settlement on another planet?
I think C.S. Lewis was right in his space trilogy about our "Silent Planet." Maybe it would be better if we were all quarantined to Earth so we don't spread our insanity to other worlds!
