NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

What would be the advantage?

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

> mycelia feed on cyanobacteria

Ah, Lichen. Not a bad idea. Lichen have been proposed for Mars.
I didn’t know it could survive in Moon conditions, but perhaps it can.

dv said:

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

What would be the advantage?

Less building materials to take, ease of repair, like a 3D printer, but self-forming with guidance, plus possibly generate light and oxygen.

dv said:

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

What would be the advantage?

Be more positive be a fun guy

dv said:

What would be the advantage?

For starters, the building is done at ambient temperature rather than requiring temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees C.

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

> mycelia feed on cyanobacteria

Ah, Lichen. Not a bad idea. Lichen have been proposed for Mars.
I didn’t know it could survive in Moon conditions, but perhaps it can.

Cyanobacteria, also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum consisting of free-living bacteria and the endosymbiotic plastids, a sister group to Gloeomargarita, that are present in some eukaryotes. They commonly obtain their energy through oxygenic photosynthesis.

I wonder how bamboo would grow on the moon under some sort of dome or protection

PermeateFree said:

mollwollfumble said:

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

> mycelia feed on cyanobacteria

Ah, Lichen. Not a bad idea. Lichen have been proposed for Mars.
I didn’t know it could survive in Moon conditions, but perhaps it can.

Cyanobacteria, also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum consisting of free-living bacteria and the endosymbiotic plastids, a sister group to Gloeomargarita, that are present in some eukaryotes. They commonly obtain their energy through oxygenic photosynthesis.

A lichen is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship. The combined lichen has properties different from those of its component organisms. Lichens come in many colors, sizes, and forms. Wikipedia

PermeateFree said:

dv said:

PermeateFree said:

NASA is exploring the possibility that future inhabitants of the Moon and Mars, not to mention the Earth, may live in homes grown from fungi.

Though a basic lightweight structure is still needed, fungi, which would remain dormant en route to their destination, would be roused with water upon arrival. The fungi would then flesh out what was a mere structure into a functional human habitat.

Not only is the plan to grow homes and buildings, but the furniture and other items items inside them. In an early prototype from 2018, researchers grew a stool from fungi over the course of two weeks. Once the stool had grown sufficiently, it was baked as the final step in creating a clean, dry, functioning and (crucially) dead piece of furniture.

The mycelia feed on cyanobacteria which harness the Sun’s energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and matter which the fungus can consume.

Ultimately, the researchers envisage a three-tiered dome habitat. The inside layer is grown from mycelia , then baked, just like the prototype stool. The next layer out is made of cyanobacteria, and produces oxygen both from the mycelia, and the human colonists living within. Finally the outer layer is composed of a renewable layer of ice which protects the building from radiation while providing water to the cyanobacteria layer.

Crucially, the fungi is contained throughout to prevent contamination of the outside environment, though as a precaution, the researchers intend to genetically alter the mycelia to make them incapable of surviving outside.

Though the main goal is viable, liveable structures, mycelia has the theoretical potential for those structures to regulate humidity, provide bioluminescent lighting and even create buildings that heal themselves in the event of damage.

https://newatlas.com/space/nasa-mycelia-fungus-buildings

What would be the advantage?

Less building materials to take, ease of repair, like a 3D printer, but self-forming with guidance, plus possibly generate light and oxygen.

Fungus doesn’t produce oxygen. And it lives off plant and animal matter. If you want 10 tonnes of fungus wall, you need to bring >10 tonnes of plant and animal matter to grow it.

Might be better to make habs out of lunar materials

dv said:

PermeateFree said:

dv said:

What would be the advantage?

Less building materials to take, ease of repair, like a 3D printer, but self-forming with guidance, plus possibly generate light and oxygen.

Fungus doesn’t produce oxygen. And it lives off plant and animal matter. If you want 10 tonnes of fungus wall, you need to bring >10 tonnes of plant and animal matter to grow it.

Might be better to make habs out of lunar materials

Think you might need to read my last couple of posts.

Actually I guess I’ve thought of one advantage, if you could grow the fungus on human waste, which your astronauts are going to produce anyway.

dv said:

Actually I guess I’ve thought of one advantage, if you could grow the fungus on human waste, which your astronauts are going to produce anyway.

Maybe, but no need.

dv said:

Actually I guess I’ve thought of one advantage, if you could grow the fungus on human waste, which your astronauts are going to produce anyway.

Boris, please construct a joke linking this comment to the mention in the OP that they made a stool out of fungus.

Cymek said:

I wonder how bamboo would grow on the moon under some sort of dome or protection

Bamboo is interesting in that it has a different photosynthesis pathway to most plants (all trees). It’s the same as wheat, so if wheat grows then bamboo will, too. It’s a more efficient photosynthesis pathway that allows it to grow rapidly under lower than normal CO2 concentrations. Apart from that, I can’t say much.

So perhaps bamboo could grow in warm wet near-vacuum. It’d need special soil though, unlike an algae+fungus lichen which can grow just about anywhere.

mollwollfumble said:

Cymek said:

I wonder how bamboo would grow on the moon under some sort of dome or protection

Bamboo is interesting in that it has a different photosynthesis pathway to most plants (all trees). It’s the same as wheat, so if wheat grows then bamboo will, too. It’s a more efficient photosynthesis pathway that allows it to grow rapidly under lower than normal CO2 concentrations. Apart from that, I can’t say much.

So perhaps bamboo could grow in warm wet near-vacuum. It’d need special soil though, unlike an algae+fungus lichen which can grow just about anywhere.

I was thinking it grows quickly here on Earth and used for construction could you do the same on the moon

mollwollfumble said:

Cymek said:

I wonder how bamboo would grow on the moon under some sort of dome or protection

Bamboo is interesting in that it has a different photosynthesis pathway to most plants (all trees). It’s the same as wheat, so if wheat grows then bamboo will, too. It’s a more efficient photosynthesis pathway that allows it to grow rapidly under lower than normal CO2 concentrations. Apart from that, I can’t say much.

So perhaps bamboo could grow in warm wet near-vacuum. It’d need special soil though, unlike an algae+fungus lichen which can grow just about anywhere.

It is not a lichen, but two separate organisms, where one generates its food from sunlight, whilst the other eats the former for nourishment. They do not need to operate together other than the feeding of the cyanobacteria to the fungus.

Cymek said:

mollwollfumble said:

Cymek said:

I wonder how bamboo would grow on the moon under some sort of dome or protection

Bamboo is interesting in that it has a different photosynthesis pathway to most plants (all trees). It’s the same as wheat, so if wheat grows then bamboo will, too. It’s a more efficient photosynthesis pathway that allows it to grow rapidly under lower than normal CO2 concentrations. Apart from that, I can’t say much.

So perhaps bamboo could grow in warm wet near-vacuum. It’d need special soil though, unlike an algae+fungus lichen which can grow just about anywhere.

I was thinking it grows quickly here on Earth and used for construction could you do the same on the moon

Might leak a bit.

PermeateFree said:

Cymek said:

mollwollfumble said:

Bamboo is interesting in that it has a different photosynthesis pathway to most plants (all trees). It’s the same as wheat, so if wheat grows then bamboo will, too. It’s a more efficient photosynthesis pathway that allows it to grow rapidly under lower than normal CO2 concentrations. Apart from that, I can’t say much.

So perhaps bamboo could grow in warm wet near-vacuum. It’d need special soil though, unlike an algae+fungus lichen which can grow just about anywhere.

I was thinking it grows quickly here on Earth and used for construction could you do the same on the moon

Might leak a bit.

True