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The Taste Of Space

Posted by samzenpus on from the what-wine-does-it-go-with dept.

It turns out that space tastes like raspberries and not Tang or freeze-dried ice cream as one might suspect. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy were searching for evidence of amino acids in space when they found ethyl formate, the chemical used in to make raspberry flavoring. The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyze electromagnetic radiation emitted by a hot and dense region of Sagittarius B2 that surrounds a newborn star. Astronomer Arnaud Belloche said, "It [ethyl formate] does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries."

81 comments

  1. I beg to differ by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Space does not have a taste. Sagittarius B2, however, tastes like raspberries.

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    1. Re:I beg to differ by teebob21 · · Score: 1

      I seem to remember a recent article describing the smell of space (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp6/spacechronicles4.html). The senses are completely bombarded with input which our brain ignores, for example the feel of your tongue on your teeth right now, or the weight of your shirt. Remove the background input, and the brain will interpret what is left and reported.

      If space can have a smell, it can most certainly have a taste. It just might not be raspberry-flavored in our neck of the Milky Way.

      --
      khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
    2. Re:I beg to differ by pleappleappleap · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Can vacuum have a smell? Might the lack of any matter provide a certain stimulus to our olfactory receptors? Similarly, might a vacuum have a taste?

    3. Re:I beg to differ by teebob21 · · Score: 1

      My point exactly, but your delivery was all the more poetic than mine.

      --
      khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
    4. Re:I beg to differ by Chabo · · Score: 1

      Space does not have a taste.

      Sure it has taste! Sci-fi is known for usually having great music, and most sci-fi takes place in space!

      Just look at the "space station docking" scene from "2001"; "Blue Danube" was a powerfully apt choice for that scene! And don't even get me started on Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, and Serenity!

      Oh, a taste. Excuse me.

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    5. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 3, Informative

      And the moon smells like burnt gunpowder.

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    6. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Can vacuum have a smell?

      I don't know... what does near-instant frostbite of your olfactory epithelium smell like?

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      There's only one thing I hate about Halloween, which is...
    7. Re:I beg to differ by Chabo · · Score: 1

      The senses are completely bombarded with input which our brain ignores, for example the feel of your tongue on your teeth right now, or the weight of your shirt.

      This is off-topic, but from what I remember, isn't autism essentially caused by the inability to tune out these sensory signals (or at least this is one symptom)?

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    8. Re:I beg to differ by Taibhsear · · Score: 3, Informative

      Can vacuum have a smell? Might the lack of any matter provide a certain stimulus to our olfactory receptors? Similarly, might a vacuum have a taste?

      Yes. Blood. More specifically, your own.

    9. Re:I beg to differ by JustOK · · Score: 4, Funny

      smells like a typical Canadian winter.

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      rewriting history since 2109
    10. Re:I beg to differ by nine-times · · Score: 2, Funny

      I remember seeing a TV show that described the smell of space. Highly interesting stuff.

    11. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just might not be raspberry-flavored in our neck of the Milky Way.

      Of course not. The Milky Way tastes like chocolate, nougat and caramel.

    12. Re:I beg to differ by nitehawk214 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The senses are completely bombarded with input which our brain ignores, for example the feel of your tongue on your teeth right now, or the weight of your shirt.

      Thanks for making me notice these, asshole.

      --
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    13. Re:I beg to differ by kheldan · · Score: 1

      Nah, you're wrong. The Moon smells like freedom.

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    14. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Hello, and THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING

      Yes that's right, THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING. Why you might ask? Well it's simple!

      Your brain usually takes care of breathing FOR you, but whenever you
      remember this, YOU MUST MANUALLY BREATH! If you don't you will DIE.

      There are also MANY variations of this. For example, think about:

      BLINKING!

      SWALLOWING SALIVA!

      HOW YOUR FEET FEEL IN YOUR SOCKS!

      In conclusion, the THINK ABOUT YOUR BREATHING troll is simply unbeatable.
      These 4 words can be thrown randomly into article text trolls, into sigs,
      into anything, and once seen, WILL FORCE THE VICTIM TO TAKE CARE OF HIS
      BREATHING MANUALLY! This goes far beyond the simple annoying or insulting
      trolls of yesteryear.

      In fact, by EVEN RESPONDING to this troll, you are proving that IT HAS
      CLAIMED ANOTHER VICTIM -- YOU!

    15. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why would you smell your blood in a vacuum?

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    16. Re:I beg to differ by shadowbearer · · Score: 2, Funny

        It would probably be the only thing you *could* smell (and taste, likely), as the air rushes out of your sinuses and lungs, past the rupturing blood vessels.

        Briefly.

      SB

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    17. Re:I beg to differ by dissy · · Score: 1

      Why would you smell your blood in a vacuum?

      It would really depend on the pressure your body was in just before being exposed to the vacuum.

      Just being in a vacuum by itself would smell like nothing, as there are not enough particles to collect together to signal enough smell receptors at once to trigger a scent.

      However rapidly changing pressure is likely to cause blood vessels to rupture, thus tasting your own blood, since among everywhere else too, you will be bleeding into your mouth and sinus cavities.

      A lot of people mistakenly think (probably due to Hollywood movies) that when you are in a vacuum, you Must somehow have changed pressure and exploded or something. This is most likely what the GP was implying is the case.

      That isn't a given however at all.
      In fact if you were in your space ship at the same pressure as space outside is, you could technically hold your breath and go outside and be OK, at least until the extreme cold causes other bodily functions to fail. The holding your breath part would suck too of course.

      But in either of those cases, it wouldn't be an instant death, as it takes time to use up all the oxygen in the breath you're holding, and takes time for your body heat to bleed away.

    18. Re:I beg to differ by shadowbearer · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Lunar surface dust in a pressurized environment does. I don't remember that anyone has adequately explained it or not, but it's probably due to rapid oxidation of soil particles in an oxygenated environment. (makes sense)

        Looking around, I found an interesting link here

        http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/30jan_smellofmoondust.html

        Another possibility is that moondust "burns" in the lunar lander's oxygen atmosphere. "Oxygen is very reactive," notes Lofgren, "and would readily combine with the dangling chemical bonds of the moondust." The process, called oxidation, is akin to burning. Although it happens too slowly for smoke or flames, the oxidation of moondust might produce an aroma like burnt gunpowder. (Note: Burnt and unburnt gunpowder do not smell the same. Apollo astronauts were specific. Moondust smells like burnt gunpowder.)

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    19. Re:I beg to differ by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

        As long as you continue to pay your air tax...

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    20. Re:I beg to differ by j-turkey · · Score: 2, Funny

      Can vacuum have a smell?...

      Yeah, and it sucks.

      ...badum ching!

      --

      -Turkey

    21. Re:I beg to differ by fractoid · · Score: 1

      In fact if you were in your space ship at the same pressure as space outside is, you could technically hold your breath and go outside and be OK, at least until the extreme cold causes other bodily functions to fail. The holding your breath part would suck too of course.

      Yeah, the holding your breath part might be problematic. If you find a pressure gauge, though, and blow into it, if you can hit ~14psi, you could definitely hold your breath in space.

      As for the extreme cold, it's misleading. You're in a vacuum, which is nominally very cold but has incredibly low thermal mass. It's not going to instantly freeze you, and in fact I'm not sure if it could even drain enough heat to stop a human from overheating. Your main concern (assuming that you get oxygen soon enough) will be sunburn.

      More info - apparently it takes ~14 seconds to lose consciousness, although I'd be interested to see if, with proper preparation, that couldn't be extended significantly. Arthur C. Clarke made this interesting suggestion in one of his stories (I believe it was 'Earthlight'), although that story overestimated the viable time (to the tune of 2 minutes before becoming impaired) because Clarke didn't take into account the fact that in a vacuum, lungs deplete the blood of oxygen.

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    22. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 2, Informative

      Morbo voice: Decompression does not work that way!

      If you don't exhale, your lungs burst and rather than blood rushing *out* of your circulatory system, air rushes *in*. Which kills you, of course. If you do exhale, you get to die through a combination of dehydration, freezing, and asphyxiation. Water sublimates in a vacuum. Moisture in your skin, eyes, and mouth goes straight to vapor. The capillaries are permeable, so moisture leaves them too (especially in your lungs), thickening your blood and causing severe acidosis. It also pools under your skin and in the muscles, severely bloating you. Evaporation of water rapidly reduces body temperature (especially on the skin). Nitrogen bubbles up in your bloodstream, a painful condition known as The Bends. Your stomach, bowel, and bladder contents can empty. Seizures occur. At the same time, your lungs work in reverse concerning oxygen -- it leaves your bloodstream. So not only are you not getting new oxygen, but you're losing your existing oxygen. Your brain shuts down in 15-30 seconds. The thickening blood and gas bubbles stop blood flow. You die after a couple minutes.

      And... back to the original topic... the freezing of your senses and loss of blood shuts them down.

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    23. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 1

      As for the extreme cold, it's misleading. You're in a vacuum, which is nominally very cold but has incredibly low thermal mass. It's not going to instantly freeze you, and in fact I'm not sure if it could even drain enough heat to stop a human from overheating.

      There are three primary methods through which living things lose heat: conduction (you touch something cold, including a cold atmosphere); evaporation (losing moisture to evaporation cools the body down); and radiation (objects around the temperature of living things radiate primarily in the infrared range). In space, conduction disappears, of course, as you note. Radiation is tricky; you're not only radiating, but so is everything around you; you're exchanging radiation. If you're exchanging radiation with the sun, you're going to be heating up fast. If you're exchanging radiation with the cosmic microwave background, you're going to be cooling down fast. On earth, we primarily exchange radiation with objects of similar temperatures to ourselves, but in space, the differences in temperature can be pretty radical, and hence the need for significant thermal control.

      The real issue in this case, though, is evaporation. In a vacuum, evaporation rates *radically* increases. Dogs undergoing decompression experiments were found to have frost on their tongues in 90 seconds. A NASA technician who underwent accidental decompression could literally feel water boiling in his mouth right before he blacked out.

      Anyways, the GP's point is wrong: you don't bleed in space, so you're not going to taste blood. In fact, you end up pretty numb, and some of your senses don't come back for a while even if you recover.

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    24. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 1

      You do realize that you just linked the exact same article I did, right?

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    25. Re:I beg to differ by fractoid · · Score: 1

      True, but that's a transient, superficial effect. Water external to your body boils (I'd think the worst place would be inside your lungs, as I understand it they're somewhat moist) but once it's all gone the effect stops unless you're continually leaking (eyes might be a bit of a problem). Remember we're talking about a very brief exposure here, 90 seconds at the absolute tops. So if you're starting to pick up a little hoar frost by then it's still OK, you're not instantly a human corpsicle. :)

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    26. Re:I beg to differ by Rei · · Score: 1

      The eyes get damaged enough by the frostbite that you can't see for hours. The tongue, damaged enough that you can't taste for days. You lose so much water from your blood that it thickens and becomes acidic -- which, combined with bubbles forming in the blood, cuts off your circulation at about t+100 seconds (death is at about 3-4 minutes).

      Water boils out of your body very fast when there's no pressure. Literally, liquid water will go to an instant rolling boil when placed in a vacuum.

      --
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    27. Re:I beg to differ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, you can't smell or taste a vacuum with your nose or tongue. I think the idea is that if there were a medium to taste or inhale, the chemicals present (if they were of sufficient density) would create a taste similar to raspberries. Astronauts talk about smelling the "smell of space" when they return to the airlock after a spacewalk.

  2. Smelloscope by wjousts · · Score: 5, Funny

    And to think, they laughed at Professor Farnsworth and his Smelloscope.

    1. Re:Smelloscope by acidreverb · · Score: 1

      Farnsworth:"...and therefore, by the process of elimination the electron must taste like Grape-ade"

    2. Re:Smelloscope by BiggoronSword · · Score: 1

      Did everything just taste like purple for a second there?

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    3. Re:Smelloscope by xgr3gx · · Score: 1

      If a dog craps anywhere in the Universe, I'll be the first to know.

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    4. Re:Smelloscope by Trent+Hawkins · · Score: 1

      And to think, they laughed at Professor Farnsworth and his Smelloscope.

      well of course they did. He said it smelled like Strawberries. How can something that tastes like raspberries, smell like strawberries? MADNESS!

    5. Re:Smelloscope by memorycardfull · · Score: 1

      Mmmmmm....purple.

  3. You can't have your cake and taste it too by allawalla · · Score: 1

    unfortunately PTA, it also contains propyl cyanide, so while you might be able to taste the raspberry, you won't enjoy it for long

    1. Re:You can't have your cake and taste it too by TinBromide · · Score: 1

      I wonder if that would taint the raspberry with bitter almonds...

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    2. Re:You can't have your cake and taste it too by BlitzTech · · Score: 2, Informative

      Luckily, propyl cyanide is only a health rating of 2 and has an LD50 of 50-100mg/kg. By contrast, potassium cyanide has an LD50 of 6mg/kg, and it is likely that sodium cyanide is close to that value.

      Just like you shouldn't think that wood alcohol is a viable substitute for grain alcohol. It sounds like it'd be similar, but 10mL's will make you blind and 30 will kill you.

  4. Only ONE man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...would dare give me the raspberry!

    GOD!

    1. Re:Only ONE man... by joocemann · · Score: 1

      Lonestar....

    2. Re:Only ONE man... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chuck Norris.

  5. Mmmm... Space Raspberries by chebucto · · Score: 1

    Perhaps we've finally stumbled upon a use for the ISS - the commercial production of space raspberries for the earth market.

    Not only would they be space-agedly tasty, they could be exported fresh, even in winter

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  6. What's next? by TinBromide · · Score: 3, Funny

    First they had telescopes, which they used to get the sights of space, then they came up with the smell of space, now the taste, so what's next? The sound of space?

    In space, nobody can hear the sound of Wooosh!

    --
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    1. Re:What's next? by EdZ · · Score: 2, Informative

      What, you've never listened to the RF from the surface of the Sun, or a distant pulsar, or Jupiter's electromagnetic field? Or if you want to listen to space Right This Instant, turn your radio (or a TV without channel blanking) to a channel with no broadcast. Behold the CMB.

    2. Re:What's next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fqE01YYWs

    3. Re:What's next? by TinBromide · · Score: 1

      True, and I'm familiar with that, but it feels like there's so much processing involved to get audible sound out that you should try to listen to the Mona Lisa by taking a high resolution scan, and applying appropriate filters to the data until you find something that suits your ears. Unless they've found out from the phase shifting of the RF that the surface of the sun vibrates like a drum head or a tympani and we can't hear it because of the vacuum and distance, or the electromagnetic field of Jupiter wobbles like a violin string, I'm not buying it. (Or even less musicly than the instrument examples) There's nothing magic about cosmic white noise.

      Your tv is sampling at well below the nyquist frequency of the cosmic radiation and outputs a hiss. A rough illustration of the nyquist frequency can be found here so you can see what I'm talking about.

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    4. Re:What's next? by slimjim8094 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The sound of space?

      "Hello darkness, my old friend"

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    5. Re:What's next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can use electromagnetic waves to build a musical instrument.
      An example of a light guitar can be found here http://www.utd.edu/~rstoneba/Light_Guitar_Photos.html

      Turns out that the physics behind the light guitar may also apply to the sun as well, discussed in my recently approved dissertation
      http://www.utd.edu/~rstoneba/Research.html

    6. Re:What's next? by adavies42 · · Score: 1

      wasn't there something a couple months ago on how jupiter sounds like a theremin?

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    7. Re:What's next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jupiter (via Voyager): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fqE01YYWs&feature=related

      the sun (via Soho w/ description):
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGwDdTZBAEY&NR=1

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38pJhxCzR-I (Saturn via Cassini-Huygens)
      http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEM85Q71Y3E_0.html

  7. LoneStar!!! by asicsolutions · · Score: 5, Funny

    There is only one person who would DARE give me the raspberry....

    1. Re:LoneStar!!! by pavon · · Score: 1

      Douglas Adams knew this years ago. Proof.

    2. Re:LoneStar!!! by orthancstone · · Score: 1

      The radar sir, it appears to be...jammed!

  8. In other gastronomical news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scientists report Uranus tastes like crap.

    1. Re:In other gastronomical news... by ricklg · · Score: 1

      Have they found anything that tastes like chicken? Rattle snakes supposedly do and they're sorta like dragons. We should be looking at Draco!

    2. Re:In other gastronomical news... by rts008 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No, rattlesnake does NOT taste like chicken!

      It tastes like snake. Most snakes taste similar, but not really like chicken. It tastes more like turtle/tortoise than chicken.

      I think that idea comes from confusing texture and appearance with taste. Cooked snake is very much like cooked chicken breast in texture and appearance, but not in taste.

      If you ever want to try snake for yourself, after 'dressing'* the snake, you need to parboil it. A layer of oil will form in the pot. Yes, this is truly 'snake oil'! Discard the water/snake oil batch, rinse the parboiled snake with fresh water. You do not want any of the snake oil! It is very bitter and strong tasting! Not pleasant at all.**

      Now cook the snake in your favorite manner.
      One of my favorites is to make a marinade by simmering some diced celery and onions in orange juice for about 10 minutes, let that cool, pour into a roasting pan/dish, add parboiled snake, cover the pan/dish, and roast at 300 F until done.(judge 'doneness' exactly like you would chicken breast) Enjoy!

      Here is where the 'tastes like chicken' part comes in...It will look and feel just like cooked chicken breast. It will feel the same while chewing on it. The 'palatability' will make your mind try to convince you it is chicken, but your taste buds will insist that it is different from chicken.
      It is a pretty safe bet that if you like chicken breast, you have a better than 50% chance of liking snake.

      That recipe also works great for chicken and pork chops!

      *dressing means skinning, gutting, and butchering the carcass, no matter which animal you are 'processing'

      **this seems to be a characteristic aspect to eating reptiles in general...lizards, you get the picture. Parboil is your friend when preparing reptiles for eating!
      There is a reason Special Forces troops are nicknamed "Snake"...it's shortened from "Snake-eater"...for good reason! We've recipes for stuff most USA citizens would never think to eat on their own!
      Hint:
      If it's not trying to eat you, it's probably food.
      If it is trying to eat you, then not only is it food, but that food comes with it's own delivery service!
      Yes, make it through 'SpecWar***' training, and you are the top of the food chain. Period.
      Cats are prime eating, BTW...all species from domestic 'kitty' to the big cats...lions, tigers, jaguars, ocelots....
      Dog is an 'acquired' taste, but always avoid dog liver- toxic to humans!

      ***'Special Warfare units'== Green Beanies, Black Beanies, SEALs, Force Recon, our U.K. and Aussie**** counterparts, Russia's Spetsnaz, doesn't matter...same-same...pinnacle of the food chain.

      **** For the very best experience for partying while on 'stand down'/leave, find a receptive Australian 'SpecWar' party. Those blokes know how to party! Most 'fun' I ever had with my pants on, was partying with Aussie SpecWarriors...EVER!
      I regret that I have never had the opportunity to stand beside them in battle...I feel certain it would parallel my partying experience with them! Strike Swiftly , and Who Dares Wins ...I remember you, my friends.

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    3. Re:In other gastronomical news... by chromas · · Score: 1

      We need to change the name to Urectum to end that joke once and for all.

    4. Re:In other gastronomical news... by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      I've had many an opportunity to eat rattlesnake - rather common out here.

        You are right in that the texture and look are like chicken, if cooked similar.

        I've had a different experience with the taste, tho.

        Rattlesnake meat doesn't taste like *store-bought* chicken (which doesn't have much taste, anyway). But it does taste a lot like fresh free-range chicken. Not surprising, closer food chain association.

        As to the snake oil problem - try barbecue over an open fire on a wood skewer. Let it drip. The end result is very much like good, fresh free-range chicken, barbecued over an open fire. ;)

        (I first tasted free-range chicken a few years ago and will never go back to that store bought crap; makes me nauseated now. Tastes spoiled. My first thought on tasting free-range chicken was "hey, this tastes just like fire roasted rattlesnake!")

        Strange... but then slow-roasting any meat over an open fire always tastes a helluva lot better than boiling/simmering/oven does. ;)

        I'll pass on your suggestions about cats and dogs. I prefer not to eat meat that comes from sentient mammals*. Call it what you will.

      * I only rarely eat beef anymore; but I also don't consider cattle sentient. Some may have other opinions.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    5. Re:In other gastronomical news... by adavies42 · · Score: 1

      Cats are prime eating, BTW...all species from domestic 'kitty' to the big cats...lions, tigers, jaguars, ocelots....

      Interesting. I'd always heard that predators in general tasted bad; I'd have expected that to go double for obligate carnivores.

      (cue up cat's in the kettle....)

      --
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      -kfg
    6. Re:In other gastronomical news... by rts008 · · Score: 1

      ...I first tasted free-range chicken a few years ago and will never go back to that store bought crap...

      Yeah, and their eggs are as good a comparison as the meat!

      And, yeah, you are correct about the open fire/spit method.
      Addressing this audience, the outdoors option never got out of Mom's basement! My bad!

      My first thought on tasting free-range chicken was "hey, this tastes just like fire roasted rattlesnake!"

      *chuckles out loud*

      Thanks for sharing that, it brightened my day!

      Those poor kids I went to college with never knew what to expect at one of my cookouts! But I'll have to give them credit, most tried stuff, and even became 'repeat offenders' at those events! (In Oklahoma, so I have eaten and served many a rattler!)

      --
      Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
    7. Re:In other gastronomical news... by rts008 · · Score: 1

      I'd always heard that predators in general tasted bad...

      Not in my experience.
      I wish I could find the links, or remember the sources right now...

      I have a buddy that is a History major-Early American. He has shown me diaries/journals from some of our early explorers/settlers, and it seemed a lot of trappers ('Mountain Men') developed a reputation for preferring Mountain Lion/Cougar meat over all others when given a choice.

      Eating cat always reminded me of eating pork. I don't think I would ever confuse them, but I imagine a lot of people could be fooled.

      --
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  9. Professor Farnsworth? by cnock · · Score: 1

    Didn't Professor Farnsworth invent the smelloscope for just this type of research?

  10. Pirates in Space by srussia · · Score: 1

    From wikipedia: " Ethyl formate has the characteristic smell of rum."

    Somalia, Brazil, Turnitin... they seem to be everywhere these days.

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
  11. Space smells of raspberries shows... by maroberts · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..where Red Dwarf has been when Lister has finished another curry

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  12. dessert time!!! by Ingcuervo · · Score: 0

    you could pull andromeda, then, make a oscilling pair with milky way, and have a REALLY big dessert!!!! right after lunch this sound plaussible!

  13. I got your space raspberry right here.... by GPLDAN · · Score: 1

    Pttttttttttttttttttttttttttthhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




    Set that to Strauss' Blue Danube and suck on it!

    1. Re:I got your space raspberry right here.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only one man dares give me the raspberry....LONESTAR!

      -D. Helmut

  14. LONE STAR! by Grendol · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Darkhelmet: "There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Star!"

  15. Rum, not raspberries by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What a fluff article. They could just as easily conclude that space smells of rum.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethyl_formate

  16. We've has been....JAMMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's only one man who would dare give us the raspberry: LONE STARR!

  17. Via Lactea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And of course the flavor of the Milky Way is lactose, making this the Berries & Cream region of the universe.

    1. Re:Via Lactea by Rectal+Prolapse · · Score: 1

      I am lactose intolerant, you insensitive clod!!!

  18. Only one who would DARE give us the raspberry.... by otis+wildflower · · Score: 1

    LONE STAR!!!

  19. Smell, not taste by wjousts · · Score: 1

    When you eat a raspberry you are actually smelling ethyl formate, not tasting it. Therefore, this is the smell, not the taste of space. The only things you can taste are sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (and possibly fatty, according to recent research).

  20. Only one who would DARE give us the raspberry.... by otis+wildflower · · Score: 1

    LONE STAR!!!

  21. Space before raspberries by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    Therefore, raspberries taste like space.

    In other news, the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!

    --
    https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
  22. Carefull by PPH · · Score: 1

    Space is cold. Your tongue will get stuck to it.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  23. It's Ozone by Albinoman · · Score: 1

    While I have absolutely no proof, the guy describes the smell as metallic, reminding him of an arc welder. Not only does an arc welder make ozone (UV emission, they'll sunburn and blind you), so would the gasses trapped and frozen in the fabric of his spacesuit being hit by UV. The guy is smelling it as it thaws and is collected in the air lock. It's exactly as he describes it, kind of metallic almost a fresh air smell.

  24. Divine Raspberry by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

    Obviously, the universe is only 6,000 years old and this "evidence" was cleverly planted by God. You can tell by the way he's giving scientists the raspberry!

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  25. Mr Belloche Is Right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone knows that you need many, many, molecules, in addition to space, to make space raspberries!