Couldn't a self replicating structure grow out of control like vines and weeds?
Space goats.
DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
21–30 of 102 posts
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#22Somewhat similar and probably easier to achieve would be trees floating in open ocean, and some kind of plant capable to bring nutrients up from the large depth. Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert, with most of life concentrated in the places where upwelling occurs. This kind of floating trees would add enough biomass to compensate for all of the human produced CO2 and even more.
> Floating trees in the open ocean.
The more refined version of this are intentionally created algal blooms, ala the red tide. Then you would somehow capture the CO2 dissolved in ocean water that the algae concentrates.
In this way you'd use the ocean itself as your carbon capture "filter" and "clean the filter".
The issue is that since there just isn't enough nutrients for life, and adding fertilizers costs more carbon than it sequesters. The deep ocean usually gets its nitrogen from life dying above, decaying downwards then getting pushed upwards again. I don't know of any deep ocean reserves of nitrogen that just needs brought to the surface.
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#23Somewhat similar and probably easier to achieve would be trees floating in open ocean, and some kind of plant capable to bring nutrients up from the large depth. Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert, with most of life concentrated in the places where upwelling occurs. This kind of floating trees would add enough biomass to compensate for all of the human produced CO2 and even more.
I don’t think trees and live on saltwater
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#24Somewhat similar and probably easier to achieve would be trees floating in open ocean, and some kind of plant capable to bring nutrients up from the large depth. Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert, with most of life concentrated in the places where upwelling occurs. This kind of floating trees would add enough biomass to compensate for all of the human produced CO2 and even more.
Unlikely to be any unintended consequences to foresting the ocean, too. Plain sailing.
People really will pretend to believe any old nonsense rather than accept we have to cut fossil fuel use.
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#25When reading these program announcements, it's important to keep in mind that the (unofficial?) mandate for a DARPA program officer is to fund proposals that lie in the boundaries of [Doesn't at face violate laws of physics, P(Success) = 0.2]. A program where the vast majority of aims were clearly successfully delivered would be a program that should have been funded by other government agencies. Of course, with R&D…
If they come for DARPA then we are all in deep shit because that means things are far worse than we could have imagined.
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#26Cool idea, very ambitious, is there any prior research or feasible testing setup that would support getting from 0 to 1 with this?
Yeah this seems crazy to just throw out into the public. How do they decide what and when is worth funding? Does there have to be some kind of shining light of progress... or is it just moonshot after moonshot of blind hope?
DARPA is the one agency that gets shit done and demands results. They are not working on blind hope
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#27I don't want a bloody meat spaceship. They should try crystallization.
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#28Somewhat similar and probably easier to achieve would be trees floating in open ocean, and some kind of plant capable to bring nutrients up from the large depth. Currently most of the ocean is a lifeless desert, with most of life concentrated in the places where upwelling occurs. This kind of floating trees would add enough biomass to compensate for all of the human produced CO2 and even more.
> Floating trees in the open ocean. The more refined version of this are intentionally created algal blooms, ala the red tide. Then you would somehow capture the CO2 dissolved in ocean water that the algae concentrates. In this way you'd use the ocean itself as your carbon capture "filter" and "clean the filter". The issue is that since there just isn't enough nutrients for life, and adding fertilizers costs more car…
Nitrogen is easy, it can be captured from air, iron is the main thing missing in surface water that must be brought up by upwelling.
But having real trees above the water is much more useful than simple carbon capture, they would serve as wavebreakers for seasteading settlements too.
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#29When reading these program announcements, it's important to keep in mind that the (unofficial?) mandate for a DARPA program officer is to fund proposals that lie in the boundaries of [Doesn't at face violate laws of physics, P(Success) = 0.2]. A program where the vast majority of aims were clearly successfully delivered would be a program that should have been funded by other government agencies. Of course, with R&D…
If they come for DARPA then we are all in deep shit because that means things are far worse than we could have imagined.
like even more far-worse than the current far-worse?
Re: DARPA Large Bio-Mechanical Space Structures
#30I don't want a bloody meat spaceship. They should try crystallization.
I've got bad news for you: radiotrophic fungi is already a thing.
https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/life-in-the-extreme-radia...
https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/News-Stories/Article/31420...