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"Science fiction is what scientists would do if they could - if they had enough grant money, enough time, and enough brains to do the wonderful things they would like to do."
- Greg Bear
 |
| Martian Sawgrass | ||
| Specialized variety of plant that is used to provide oxygen for space stations. |
The new Director of the Venus Equilateral station goes on a routine inspection of the "air plant" and what does he find?
It turned out that the "air plant" was - Martian sawgrass.
"I found that instead of a bunch of machinery, running smoothly, purifying air, and sending it out to the various parts of the station, all there was was a veritable jungle of weeds... I had some workmen clear the weeds out."
| "What better purifying machine is there than a plot of grass?" shouted Channing. "... We breathe oxygen, exhale CO2. Plants inhale CO2 and exhale oxygen. An air plant means just that. It is a specialized type of Martian sawgrass that uses chlorophyll... We've spent years getting that plant so it will grow just right. It got so good that the CO2 detectors weren't even needed... |
| From QRM - Interplanetary,
by George O. Smith. Published by Street and Smith in 1942 Additional resources -
|
To save the station from bureaucratic stupidity, an immediate order for "as many oxydrums on the fastest ship they've got" was issued to suppliers back on Earth.
Also, in his excellent 1950 short story The Morning of the Day They Did It, EB White refers to this same idea:
Compare to the spaceship garden from The Heritage of the Earth (1932) by Harley S. Aldinger, the
asteroid garden from Asteroid of Fear (1951) by Raymond Z. Gallun,
bubble world from At the Bottom of a Hole (1966) by Larry Niven, the
lunar greenhouse tunnel from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1966) by Robert Heinlein and
lifezones from Tides of Light (1989) by Gregory Benford.
Every subway rider knew that the two men on the [space] platform were breathing oxygen thrown off from big squash vines that they had taken along..."
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- CAMRAS Recycles Every Breath You Take
- Fresh Veggies, Fresh Air For Mars
- Man-Made Space Leaf Creates Oxygen From Water And Light
- Space Synthetic Biology Grand Challenges
| Mushroom Eats Plastic, Saves Planet |
| Is There Extraterrestrial Life Here In The Solar System |
| Chinese Fern Helps Remediate Arsenic Soil |
| New Lifelike Material Powered By Artificial Metabolism |
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