I notice the obligatory whining about climate change having the impact of reducing the ability to grow barley. In fact, even if the IPCC is right in all of its doomsday glory, much of Canada that currently is utterly inhospitable will likely be able to sustain yuuuge crops of barley. The only other impact will be that people might have to switch from Bud and Coors to Labatt’s and Molson’s. A fair trade indeed.
It’s Tor.
” You will never find a more wretched hive of” SJW “scum and villainy.”
Just say no to Labatt’s Blue.
I think there is an over-focus on hydroponics. Probably because her generation ship is too small. This would be a good compromise for a SolarShip, something like a space station sized habitat capable of exploring our solar system, where there is undoubtedly a need for hydroponic farming. But something as big as a generation ship or a space colony? Access to topsoil shouldn’t be a major impediment, given the other necessities that have to be supplied.
Water is a good shield material. So, combine aquaculture for protein and hydroponics as *well* as the water being a way to stockpile oxygen and reaction mass… Why not?
A couple of meters of bacteria-rich soil provides one heck of a buffer, both for the life-support system and for radiation shielding.
The hell with beer. Grapes to grow to make red wine is important.
Well, one of the big complaints recorded on the Mayflower before it finally landed at Plymouth Rock was… a shortage of beer.
If only they’d had a way to brew it while at sea, maybe they would have kept sailing until they got where they originally meant to go. Assuming their sense of direction didn’t suffer…
Paging Tony Verdeshi.
How primitive depending on only natural organisms when you have genetic engineering at your disposal to modify barley, and other organisms, as needed. That is what was really good about the old science fiction masters, the had confidence in technology and actually understood how human progress works.
I notice the obligatory whining about climate change having the impact of reducing the ability to grow barley. In fact, even if the IPCC is right in all of its doomsday glory, much of Canada that currently is utterly inhospitable will likely be able to sustain yuuuge crops of barley. The only other impact will be that people might have to switch from Bud and Coors to Labatt’s and Molson’s. A fair trade indeed.
It’s Tor.
” You will never find a more wretched hive of” SJW “scum and villainy.”
Just say no to Labatt’s Blue.
I think there is an over-focus on hydroponics. Probably because her generation ship is too small. This would be a good compromise for a SolarShip, something like a space station sized habitat capable of exploring our solar system, where there is undoubtedly a need for hydroponic farming. But something as big as a generation ship or a space colony? Access to topsoil shouldn’t be a major impediment, given the other necessities that have to be supplied.
Water is a good shield material. So, combine aquaculture for protein and hydroponics as *well* as the water being a way to stockpile oxygen and reaction mass… Why not?
A couple of meters of bacteria-rich soil provides one heck of a buffer, both for the life-support system and for radiation shielding.
The hell with beer. Grapes to grow to make red wine is important.
Well, one of the big complaints recorded on the Mayflower before it finally landed at Plymouth Rock was… a shortage of beer.
If only they’d had a way to brew it while at sea, maybe they would have kept sailing until they got where they originally meant to go. Assuming their sense of direction didn’t suffer…
Paging Tony Verdeshi.
How primitive depending on only natural organisms when you have genetic engineering at your disposal to modify barley, and other organisms, as needed. That is what was really good about the old science fiction masters, the had confidence in technology and actually understood how human progress works.