Slashdot Mirror


Future Astronauts May Survive On Eating Silkworms

sciencehabit writes "Science reports that silkworms may be an ideal food source for future space missions. They breed quickly, require little space and water, and generate smaller amounts of excrement than poultry or fish. They also contain twice as many essential amino acids as pork does and four times as much as eggs and milk. Even the insect's inedible silk, which makes up 50% of the weight of the dry cocoon, could provide nutrients: The material can be rendered edible through chemical processing and can be mixed with fruit juice, sugar, and food coloring to produce jam."

36 of 384 comments (clear)

  1. gross by yincrash · · Score: 4, Funny

    so what do they taste like??
    can we make them taste like bacon?

    1. Re:gross by astrodoom · · Score: 5, Funny

      With enough butter, anything can taste okay. The best part is their texture though. Nice and silky.

    2. Re:gross by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, here is the recipe:

        - Take fresh (or not so fresh) worms
        - Garnish with whatever you like (like eggs)
        - before eating, replace worms with bacon

    3. Re:gross by famebait · · Score: 3, Funny

      PIGS!
      IN!
      SPAAAaaaAAAaaaAAAaaaACE!

      --
      sudo ergo sum
    4. Re:gross by MikeDirnt69 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hakuna Matata!

      --
      Am I eval()? - http://www.monst3r.com.br
    5. Re:gross by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Last time I was there I had some great meat balls. They really were the dog's bollocks.

    6. Re:gross by kimvette · · Score: 5, Funny

      Who was the guy who first looked at a chicken and thought "I'm gonna eat the first thing that comes out of that bird's butt."

      Thank god the egg came out first.

      --
      The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    7. Re:gross by kungfugleek · · Score: 2, Funny

      With enough silk you could call it "blankets-in-a-pig."

  2. The death of a myth by 4D6963 · · Score: 4, Funny

    They started drinking their own pee, and now they're gonna eat silkworms? No wonder why kids don't dream of becoming astronauts anymore, this thing is more awful than Survivor!

    --
    You just got troll'd!
  3. Hey by IceCreamGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "What's for dinner tonight, Dave?"
    "Oh, I don't know, Frank, how about... MORE FU(#1NG WORMS!?"
    "Just calm down and pass the worm jam."

  4. oblig by pak9rabid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fear Factor: Astronaut Edition

  5. Re:Food for thought by sdpuppy · · Score: 5, Funny
    Hmmm, given the article's topic, now I wonder if they ever tested the radiation shielding properties of silk.

    Hey if that works, they've got the solution to space travel all wrapped up!

  6. Wrong by gatkinso · · Score: 2, Funny

    Real astronauts eat'tang.

    --
    I am very small, utmostly microscopic.
  7. Must be in the NASA manual... by Cheerio+Boy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Astronaut 1, "But where in my contact does it say that I have to eat the same food for breakfast everyday for three years?"

    Astronaut 2,"Paragraph 47, subsection 19, cause 9a. You can find it in the index under S.U.A.E.I."

    Astronaut 1,"S.U.A.E.I.?"

    Astronaut 2,"Shut up and eat it."


    Apologies to Babylon 5.

    --

    "Bah!" - Dogbert
  8. Spnife by Nerdposeur · · Score: 5, Funny

    Even better is the Spnife: round enough to hold soup, but sharp enough to slice your mouth.

  9. If they taste like they smell...... by MjDelves · · Score: 5, Funny

    so what do they taste like?? can we make them taste like bacon?

    Last year I was in Korea where the streets are lined with vendors frying up silkworm pupae on the street as an, *ahem*, delicacy. The smell wafting down the road can only be described as a cross between death and pus. I would eat my fellow astronauts over silkworms.

  10. Re:Food for thought by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Funny

    If anything they could use it to spin some lingerie for the female astronauts to help with those lonely space nights.

  11. China is all set for their space program then! by Cthefuture · · Score: 3, Funny

    This should be great for their fledgling space program and will prove they're committed to a peaceful future. They have vast quantities of old Silkworms laying around ready to be made into food. Gives a whole new meaning to the term explosive diarrhea though.

    "Make dinner, not war" is what I always say.

    --
    The ratio of people to cake is too big
  12. From TFA: by A.+B3ttik · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...each astronaut would need to consume 170 silkworm pupae and cocoons a day to fulfill their animal protein needs. That number might be difficult to raise on a cramped spaceship but could be more feasible than raising an equivalent number of chickens.

    I guess I took it for granted that 170 silkworms would be easier to raise than 170 chickens.

  13. Re:Food for thought by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 4, Funny

    The depths of the ocean are just creepy.

    Wow, man. That's deep!

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  14. Re:Cutlery! by Thanshin · · Score: 2, Funny

    If you can find a way to properly polymerise their silk

    With that and some way of growing a plant that can use meteorites as nutrients and that can feed silkworms:

    - Astronaut grows plants on ship.
    - Astronaut mines meteorite for plant nutrients.
    - Silkworm eats plants
    - Astronauts eats silkworm.
    - Astronaut uses polymerised silk to build Death Star.

  15. The song by halcyon1234 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nobody likes me
    Everybody hates me
    Going into space to eat worms!

  16. Re:Sexy Lingerie! by Thanshin · · Score: 2, Funny

    And if you get really bored in your new space habitat, you can make sexy underwear to keep your colony's population rising. :)

    It doesn't matter how much silk underwear you use, you still won't reproduce with a silkworm.

  17. Re:Why silkworms when there is ... by A12m0v · · Score: 2, Funny

    SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE

    --
    GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
  18. In space, chickens can fly! by petgiraffe · · Score: 2, Funny

    So I wouldn't rule chickens out completely. Think how quickly you can get around a big space station using a chicken for propulsion! Not to mention the chickens are sure to be happy about their new-found flight capability. And if I know anything about poultry it's that a happy chicken is a tasty chicken.

    --
    -- The reader anything less than completely failing to not misunderstand this sig is cursed.
  19. Re:Food for thought by Shakrai · · Score: 5, Funny

    Male Astronauts have apparently tried quite a bit

    Unless you have a citation for this I'm going to assume that you are confusing the NASA channel with old Cinemax reruns of Emmanuelle in Space ;)

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  20. Re:Food for thought by aliquis · · Score: 2, Funny

    I will still not give any DVDA shots :/

  21. Re:Food for thought by kimvette · · Score: 2, Funny

    Will sunscreen do? What do I need, SPF 280,000?

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
  22. Re:Food for thought by Experiment+626 · · Score: 4, Funny

    From what I understand, it's almost impossible for people to have sex in Zero-G. Male Astronauts have apparently tried quite a bit, even with the help of drugs, but they -can't- get an erection. This makes sense since most of the blood in your body flows to your head when you're in Zero-G.

    So NASA just needs to screen astronaut applicants for the ability to mastrubate while standing on their head...

  23. Re:Food for thought by R2.0 · · Score: 3, Funny

    "but if we're gonna go to Mars or wherever, we'll need to bring our own protection."

    No we don't - according to a poster above, men can't even get an erection in space, much less impregnate anyone.

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
  24. Re:Food for thought by domulys · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think this was simply a failed attempt at a joke. It's a shame... they missed an excellent pun opportunity involving the phrase "getting it up".

  25. Re:Food for thought by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Female astronauts have no problem, they have blood in their head during normal sex too.

  26. Shouldn't silkworms be called "space kittens"? by ugmoe · · Score: 2, Funny

    Shouldn't silkworms be called "space kittens"? Somehow, I don't think that any vegan astronauts were involve in this study - they never are.

  27. Re:Food for thought by gregbot9000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    but if we're gonna go to Mars or wherever, we'll need to bring our own protection.

    Wait are you talking about the radiation or is this still the space sex thread?

  28. Re:Food for thought by RoccamOccam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Null gravity's awkward for lovers,
    especially pushers and shovers.
    The problems of docking
    and then interlocking
    are greatly increased when one hovers.

    Source: Omni Magazine, limerick contest

  29. Re:Potato Chips on a Sub by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A Navy friend of mine worked on a Sub for many years. He always thought it was ironic that for a mission that required stealth they always seemed to have some of the loudest food you could find. Even MREs are edible, normal food.

    Loud food? Is that really a problem? I am aware that the zesty crunch of Tostitos is, in fact, totally insane.. but I was not aware that the chip scientists had invented one capable of sending its crunch-vibrations out through the metal hull of a submarine in ultra-high-pressure ocean depths.

    I'd be glad to hear it though. Developments in chip technology, zestiness excluded, has been depressingly stagnant recently.