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Drinking Coffee From a Cup In Space
muggs was one of several readers to note a fluffy piece making the rounds about an astronaut inventing a
zero-g coffee cup. Of course, since the space station inhabitants drink recycled urine, I'm still not totally convinced that I would want to try that cup.
And, ummm, who doesn't? Most of us just have a bigger recycling plant than they do.
rj
Of course, since the space station inhabitants drink recycled urine, I'm still not totally convinced that I would want to try that cup. And just what do you think that fresh spring water or tap water you're drinking is? There's been life on this planet for 3 billion years, every drop of water has been recycled urine more times than your human brain is able to comprehend.
The only real difference on the space station is that they do a much better job of purifying and testing the water than nature does.
I'm tired of it. Everyone who drinks from a modern city water supply drinks recycled urine because water treatment plants reclaim water from human waste so they dont have to pump so much from the ground. They do it very efficiently too. No one even notices it really.
I'm still not totally convinced that I would want to try that cup.
Char it and you'd never be able to tell it from Starbucks. Chill and carbonate it and it'll pass for Budweiser.
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ALL water is recycled. Thirty thousand years ago a mammoth was pissing out the water that's sitting in your coffee urn this morning. People need to get over this, just like they need to get over irradiated food. It's at least as safe to drink as bottled water; And likely moreso since some bottled water undergoes no processing prior to being packaged. Did you know that the LA municipal water supply recycles its sewage into tap water? It's the nation's largest sewage processing station, and as a byproduct it produces several million tonnes of valuable fertilizer that's highly valued for use on the wineries in California. This isn't unique to California -- many coastal cities use similar measures because the rivers are too polluted and they're too close to sea level to find water reserves underground.
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Rob, dude, you really should think about some of these stories a little more before posting them. We're all drinking urine (and other much more horrible things) each and every day. It's what those costly water treatment plants on Earth are responsible for filtering, and it's what those expensive systems for the ISS are designed for. What's the difference? Either way the if the coffee tastes good, and it's clean water that's used, I'm happy drinking it :)
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What's the big deal about drinking recycled urine? I guess I just don't get it; pure water is pure water, regardless of what was in it in the past (unless, I sopose, you believe in homeopathic medicine). Statistically, I bet most of the water you drink has gone through a fellow human being at some point or another, what's the big deal?
The logic error you make is classic. It boils down to this old saying : "In theory, practice and theory are the same, in practice they are different". It all boils down to how much faith you have in the perfection of the system that purifies the water.
Similar to the comment above me.... I live in Colorado, what do all you people in Vegas think
you are drinking? Or for the other side of the continental divide, Denver's filtered wastwater
heads downstream to eventually end up in Kansas City. New Orleans appears to be the endpoint,
glancing at a map, which could explain why alcohol consumption is large there.
You do realize that you can only suck liquid up about 10 meters from the ground, right? Even if you had a vacuum pump, atmospheric pressure can only push liquid up the straw so far.
Yes indeed we are all drinking the pee of something or another. The only exception would be fossil water that predates life forms or comes from places that have never had them - like comets.
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You do realize that you can only suck liquid up about 10 meters from the ground, right? Even if you had a vacuum pump, atmospheric pressure can only push liquid up the straw so far.
That's true as long as the liquid is being held by gravity. In orbit that is not the case, and the only limiting criterion would be friction of the liquid agains the side of the straw (which is essentially zero).
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That is laughably false. Where do people get such ideas?
Tap water usually contains trace amounts of minerals such as calcium and magnesium, which are all necessary for the human metabolism. But those minerals are also available in food; unless you already have a deficiency (or are borderline) the distilled water won't make any difference. In any event, a daily multi-mineral supplement will make up the difference. If you're already taking a supplement you definitely don't need the minerals in tap water.
Electrolyte balance, sheesh. Sounds like maybe you've confused mineral deficiency with water intoxication, which is exactly the same whether you overdose on distilled water or tap water.