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Aussie Brewery Creates Space Beer
astroengine writes "An Australian brewing company has created the world's first beer that can be consumed in space. 4-Pines Brewing Company teamed up with Saber Astronautics Australia, tirelessly testing different brews on zero-G flights last year. They have now finalized the winning formula, calling the beer 'Vostok' — after the spacecraft flown by Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The beverage is a strong-tasting stout with reduced carbonation to avoid the dreaded microgravity 'wet burp.'"
Makes me proud to be an Australian. Now there are no reasons why we can't colonize space - we can take our slabs of VB with us, all we need is a barbie (that's the device for cooking hunks of dead animals over flames, not the de-sexed doll) that is safe to use in zero gravity.
Crack a tinny, mate.
A beer to be drunk in space: now that is what I call limiting your market ;-)
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
This is real Nerd news, but there are sometimes I wonder why? Shouldn't we have higher priorities to spend money on?
Diversity of projects is exactly the reason why a space elevator may become a possibility one day. This isn't Master of Orion where you can just pump all your assets into one technology and have it turn up in 21 turns.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Just like how do you use a Pen in space, Russia came up with a simple answer. A pencil.
I like how readily people accept that story despite how contrived it sounds.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Oh sure, invent space beer AFTER the last shuttle has launched. Way to fuck up the order of operations on that one guys!
(tongue firmly in cheek)
Beer (& Whiskey) open the way for civilization!
There was a recent discovery channel program called "How Beer Saved the World" and in Life on the Mississippi Mark Twain wrote
"How solemn and beautiful is the thought that the earliest pioneer of civilization, the van-leader of civilization, is never the steamboat, never the railroad, never the newspaper, never the Sabbath-school, never the missionary -- but always whiskey! Such is the case. Look history over; you will see. The missionary comes after the whiskey -- I mean he arrives after the whiskey has arrived; next comes the poor immigrant, with ax and hoe and rifle; next, the trader; next, the miscellaneous rush; next, the gambler, the desperado, the highwayman, and all their kindred in sin of both sexes; and next, the smart chap who has bought up an old grant that covers all the land; this brings the lawyer tribe; the vigilance committee brings the undertaker. All these interests bring the newspaper; the newspaper starts up politics and a railroad; all hands turn to and build a church and a jail -- and behold! civilization is established forever in the land. But whiskey, you see, was the van-leader in this beneficent work. It always is. It was like a foreigner -- and excusable in a foreigner -- to be ignorant of this great truth, and wander off into astronomy to borrow a symbol. But if he had been conversant with the facts, he would have said: Westward the Jug of Empire takes its way. "
This is real Nerd news, but there are sometimes I wonder why? Shouldn't we have higher priorities to spend money on? Space elevator, far space travel, populate Mars (coz frankly we are getting too crowded on earth)? But beer in space? Just what we need, some drunk space pilot docking to the space station. This is why I have no hope for the human race. Sure, I could lighten up, but I'm ready for the younger generation to get off my earth lawn!
Umm, isn't this the same tired argument people use *every* time someone does something other than cure cancer?
"OMG, why are you playing baseball, there's cancer to be cured!"
"Why are you playing guitar, there are starving people in Africa!'
"Why are you studying journalism, you should be studying engineering and solving the energy crisis!"
No matter what you are doing, there is always something more noble to be done, but we can't all be doing noble things. There's nothing wrong with brewing beer for consumption in space, or making Justin Bieber lunchboxes for kids or making yet another iPad case. People should do whatever they're best at, or whatever makes them happy.
-Taylor
Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
I read something a little while back about the threshold theory (not sure if it was actually called this, but it's my post any I'll cry if I want to). Essentially, human space travel now, and in the past, is experimental and by drips and drabs because there is no obvious short term return. We need to rely upon governmental pioneers with massively funded projects with no financial results (note - this IMO is one of the primary reasons for government). We will reach a tipping point at some point in which private investors see financial gain outweighing the outlays. This doesn't _seem_ like happening soon, but with cheaper, better and more reliable ascents to Earth orbits, it's not massively far off IMO. Once the benefits of going into space outweigh the costs, _everyone_ will be doing it, and we'll be worried about unregulated access in space.
We've seen this to some degree with satellites - Originally only governmental agencies stuck them up there... it was assumed that the prohibitative cost of sticking a sattelite in orbit around the earth would deter companies. Now satellite communications are massive business, and commonplace.
Also, and to contradict any point about manned space flight being somehow special, I'd point out deep sea explorations and technologies. Most of the best divers in the world are employed by companies concerned about their assets.
The reason why is just to pump money at it until we hit the threshold when it becomes benficial. Because, (and I'm not being nostradamus-esque here), there will be a point when it will be profitable to send people into space. And all the governmental pushes, which returned crap all direct financial benefit will be used.
This is as spoken by a relatively socialist libertarian, anti big government.
That reminds me of the story of the constipated mathematician... he worked it out with a pencil.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
In space they can't hear you burp.
The US government have made it clear that we have no inalienable rights; any we do not defend vigorously will be taken.