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One Small Breath For Man
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times reports on a new technique that may allow Oxygen to be wrung from the soil on the moon. This may pave the way for a moonbase, and allow permanent habitation on Earth's only natural satellite." From the article: "Lunar soil brought back to Earth is in short supply and highly prized, so Nasa researchers have been using matter with the same composition for its tests. The soil contains about 45 per cent oxygen by weight, but it is mostly 'trapped' in the form of silicon dioxide ... At the moment, all oxygen supplies would have to be brought from Earth, which is so expensive and energy-inefficient that it effectively rules out a permanent Moon base. "
Oxygen don't grow on trees.
Picture it. Fights between "our reserves are finishing soon" versus "it's going to last for long".
Campaigns on the line of "Have children, they'll only take n cubic metres of soil per year".
New religions venerating resurrection via burial: "Oxygen you are and in oxygen you'll become".
Mr President Of The Moon declaring "We as a nation have an addiction to oxygen".
The article title made me think /. had finally opened its' much-awaited Corsetry section...
The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. -Anais Nin
Fact: Silicon dioxide is also known as silica.
:)
Fact: Inhaling crystalline silica dust can lead to silicosis or cancer.
I thought they were amusing facts. +1 Important please Mods.
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
don't know if you noticed, but we produce carbon dioxide. I have an experiment for you to try:
breathe out
there you go... carbon dioxide.
Obviously some would have to be brought from Earth. And obviously, some would leak and need to be replaced. A self-sustainable eco-system is likely impossible, but it would reduce the oxygen requirements
being vague is almost as cool as doing that other thing...
2 days ago...
2 7/1639243
Science Ability Down in U.S. High Schools
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/
How true.
I predict that if hydrogen can be extracted from regolith close to the surface, then a lot of that oxygen will be burnt down to make water.
I predict that if anything can be extracted from the regolith close to the surface, it will run out so fast that after a few weeks, expensive subsurface mining and/or far flung harvesting will be made necessary, thus defeating the point of the entire excercise.
I don't know about you, but I think ore harvesters on the moon is simply not a feasable option. They cost $1400 a pop after the first!
May the Maths Be with you!
I was looking at a Ramen ingrediants list while reading this, and I found out that the Soup Base has Silicon Dioxide in it... Does this mean Ramen is carcinogenic? And better yet.... Does this mean we can make Oxygen from Ramen if the need arises?
People, people, you got it all wrong.
The reaction is: Earth+Fire=Air.
Don't they teach proper alchemy anymore?
Be wary of any facts that confirm your opinion.
we can test that.
My script don't crash! She crashes, you crashed her!
" I'd find them rather boring if they didn't "talk funny"."
Hmm.. Thank you - I think.
I'm English and I speak with so-called "received pronunciation" - essentially no regional accent. (No, not like the Queen) and this reminds me of a conversation I had with an American friend. It went something like this:
F: "...AND you talk funny"
Me: "Oh, really? What language are we speaking at the moment?"
F: "English!"
Me: "And what nationality am I?"
F: (Seeing the trap) "Err.. English."
Me: "So, who is the one talking funny?"
F: "F*ck off!"
Question is, can the sharks with lasers survive in the low gravity on the moon with oxygen tanks supplied by big mirrors and lenses? Perhaps the sharks could point their lasers at the SiO2 and make their own oxygen? Wow! Think of the possibilities!
Mmmmm... I'm sure you have an invalid iterator there somewhere.
welcomes it's new oxygen-breathing overlords.
"I love his boyish charm, but I hate his childishness" - Leela
One giant gasp for mankind.
Build a dome!? Haven't you ever seen Goldfinger?
What?