Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

Rusakov · 2013-06-12 09:24:22

I looked at a recent article published by Discover Magazine called "How Mushrooms Can Save the World". It talked about a variety of potential applications for mushrooms, including bioremediation uses.

One diagram in the article showed a type of symbiosis between mushrooms and trees. What happens is that a mushroom can give a tree nitrogen and mineral salts in exchange for sugars from the tree.

I also looked at a book talked about in the article called "Mycelium Running" which goes into depth about how mushrooms can do very important things such as filter water through their mycelia (the fungal equivalent of roots) which leads to a removal of fecal bacteria from wastewater.

I don't remember the full article very well, but there was talk about how the uses of mushrooms, combined with their radiation resistance, could be used to help terraform other planets. I think this is something that should be looked at. Your guys' thoughts?

Decimator · 2013-06-12 11:39:47

This is probably relevant: Ionizing Radiation Changes the Electronic Properties of Melanin and Enhances the Growth of Melanized Fungi

Rusakov · 2013-06-12 12:07:42

Decimator wrote:

This is probably relevant: Ionizing Radiation Changes the Electronic Properties of Melanin and Enhances the Growth of Melanized Fungi

Interesting. So melanized fungi could be quite tolerant of radiation. But since fungi require oxygen to survive, they might not be able to be used in an early stage of terraforming. But maybe latter they could be used to create soil and help stabilize parts of a nascent biosphere...

idiom · 2013-06-13 01:47:02

Possibly the opposite. Fungi are important symbiotes for nearly all plants. Most plants have a specific fungal symbiote that matches them.

The more interesting starting point for terraforming would be lichen with cyanobacteria. The lichen basically farm cyanobacteria for oxygen.

Linkums. http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3 … 2102128213

RobertDyck · 2013-06-13 09:55:26

Similar to lichen, I've proposed peat bogs. Sphagnum moss grows in symbiosis with cyanobacteria. Sphagnum moss produces acid, that breaks down rock to release nutrients: potassium, phosphate, as well as sodium, calcium, magnesium. And micronutrients. Breaking down solid rock with acid releases all nutrients they need other than water, CO2 and nitrate. Cyanobacteria consumes those nutrients, and fixes nitrogen from air. Symbiosis. A by-product of breaking down rock with acid is the rock gets turned into clay. So peat moss (sphagnum moss with cyanobacteria) is a pioneer plant. The sphagnum moss also acts as a sponge, getting all the water it needs from nothing but rain.

I proposed speed the process by grinding a 2 metre depth of rock and soil into fines. Then using a pump to bring water from the bottom to the surface, circulating acid from peat through all the fines. Peat requires stagnant water, so ensure the pump moves water slowly and does not aerate. And to ensure the pump doesn't get clogged, build a slow sand filter beneath the fines. That starts by cutting a hole in the rock, then layering rocks, gravel, course sand, and fine sand. Since the pump would act slowly, it could operate with a solar panel and battery. Also add water quality sensors and a Wifi relay node: temperature at the bottom, water surface temperature, air temperature, pH, concentration of water calcium, magnesium, phosphate, iron, salt, ammonia. The idea is convert solid rock into arable soil in just a few years. Once finished, treat with lye to neutralize acid. You want slightly acidic soil for food crops, but they can't handle acid nearly as strong as a peat bog.

I tried this with an aquarium. Starting with a bag of glacial rock dust I bought from a garden centre. I used unpainted aquarium gravel beneath, and a plastic under-gravel water filter. Circulated water with an aquarium water pump, and removed the venturi. I got a sample of live peat moss from a company that harvests peat from a bog, for garden centres. But I got the live stuff. It worked, perhaps too well. After 5 months water flow through the rock dust got clogged. Water at one end of a 10 gallon aquarium was over 10cm deep while water at the other end at the pump intake drained dry to the glass bottom. Was that clay clogging water flow? And pH started at 5.3 when I poured steam distilled water over the live peat, it rose to 7.7! Sphagnum moss needs acid, it can tolerate pH up to 7.5, but as soon as pH hit 7.6 it began to die. And water hardness rose to 400 mg/L in the first week. As a comparison, water hardness up to 60 is soft, 60-120 is moderately hard, 120-180 is hard, and anything over 180 is very hard. This aquarium started with steam distilled water, but very quickly hit 400! And carbonate hardness slowly rose to 190 mg/L by the time the pump could no longer draw water. Was that absorbing CO2 from air, or did the bag of glacial rock dust have limestone? Carbonate hardness rose over 5 months, while general hardness rose in the first week.

Anyway, this tells me to do this on Mars a pump would require something to actively remove calcium and magnesium. That would reduce water hardness, but also reduce pH. The good news is that removes lime, which we would need at the end of the process to neutralize soil pH. Removing calcium and magnesium could be done with a lime water treatment. I read on Wikipedia that adding calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide causes calcium and magnesium (respectively) to precipitate out as carbonate slurry. Ironic that you add more lime; but add as hydroxide, precipitate as carbonate. That will take some CO2 out of air, but Mars has lots of that. The carbonate slurry can be baked dry, then "slaked". Which means bake out the CO2 to make quick lime, then add water to make "slaked lime". That slaked lime (aka hydrated lime) is what the water treatment needs. Could this process be done automatically at the pump? Just use power and Mars atmosphere, collect excess dry lime.

To start a Mars peat bog, you would have to start with cyanobacteria. Sphagnum moss is a plant, although it produces oxygen, it needs a certain level of oxygen. Cyanobacteria also produces oxygen, but doesn't need it. So start with cyanobacteria, and just cover the ground with a sheet of transparent plastic to hold most of the O2. Then add sphagnum moss. The sheet should also hold moisture close to the ground, helping the moss. Just leave edges of the plastic sheet unsealed so rain can flow through. That will leak oxygen, but leaking oxygen into Mars atmosphere also helps terraform. Obviously this process could only start when terraforming has increased Mars atmospheric pressure to 10 kPa (100 millibar), and temperature sufficiently for rain.

Another note: once peat bogs have produced enough oxygen and soil, you can plant black spruce right in a peat bog. That tree tolerates very strong soil acidity, sufficient that it can grow directly in peat bog. Can you say "boreal forest"?

Last edited by RobertDyck (2013-06-13 09:57:00)

SpaceNut · 2016-12-03 19:48:30

Here is the Mushroom topic.....
http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Mushrooms-Indoors

http://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/ … mushrooms/

How Mushrooms Grow

Mushrooms grow from spores -- not seeds -- that are so tiny you can't see individual spores with the naked eye.

Because the spores don't contain chlorophyll to begin germinating (as seeds do), they rely on substances such as sawdust,

grain, wooden plugs, straw, wood chips, or liquid for nourishment. A blend of the spores and these nutrients is called

spawn. Spawn performs a bit like the starter needed to make sourdough bread.

Depending on the mushroom type, the substrate might be straw, cardboard, logs, wood chips, or compost with a blend of

materials such as straw, corncobs, cotton and cocoa seed hulls, gypsum, and nitrogen supplements.

These mushrooms are the types most commonly grown at home:
Crimini
Enoki
Maitake
Portobello
Oyster
Shiitake
White button

http://www.mushbox.com/

The main problem is even if you have the spores there is no place that contains the nutrients to grow them in and that will take time to build up for surface of subterrainium grown....

SpaceNut · 2016-12-03 20:57:04

Antius wrote:

I don't know much about fungi, that is why I don't talk about them. I provide feedback when I think I have something useful to offer. My limited understanding of fungi tells me that they are not primary producers. If you provide plant matter or some other organic material they will derive energy by breaking it down. They are an important part of Earth ecosystems as they help close the loop. In what context do you wish to see them discussed?

SpaceNut · 2016-12-03 21:25:58

Void wrote:

Thanks for the replies to my last post guys.
Mushrooms/Fungi:
Should we foster livestock that eats plant matter, we can nominate;
-Cattle
-Chickens (Not strict vegetarians).
-Black Sodier Fly Larvae
-Fish
-Mushrooms
Of these proposed livestock, Cattle and Chickens are warm blooded, and so we can expect them to consume calories and Oxygen to maintain their body temperature. We should perhaps want to look at the other candidates instead.
So,
-Black Sodier Fly Larvae
-Fish
-Mushrooms
Of the above, Black Sodier Flies and fish are animals. Therefore they are animated, have muscles. Therefore they will consume calories and Oxygen moving around. So in my opinion we should perhaps want to look at the remaining candidate.
Some Fungi have sex organs that we call Mushrooms. That is sort of disgusting in a way that we remove them and eat them, but if the organism is assisted in its propagation, I do not consider it to be and unthinkable immoral act. Many plant products we eat are after all the seeds of life for plants. It isn't that different.
Eating Mushrooms, I think is of a greater morality than killing animals to eat. I am not a wacko however, I do eat meat. I understand that the animals eaten would most likely not have had a life if it was not for that purpose. We can only hope that morality can be applied to the raising livestock, and that eventually humans will not have to kill such animated life to survive.
Fungi which produce Mushrooms, can digest many organic biologically produced materials, and weird things like Oil and Coal/Carbon.
And the resulting leftovers are beneficiated as a soil additive for photo-plant growing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetia_illucens

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-08-25 07:35:03

Fungi Species New to Science Discovered in Scottish Highlands

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/fungi-s … highlands/

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-09-23 18:54:30

Mushroom made Brick

A future plastic fungus?
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/mushroom-satellites

For instance, multiple designers are investigating mycelium as an inexpensive, durable, and non-toxic means for building eco-friendly housing, insulation, and plastics.
Examples include architecture and design firms Evocative and The Living, which have been using mycelium for years to create materials and finished products. In the construction industry, mycelium has also been shown to have applications for removing harmful chemicals in building waste. When paired with 3D printing, mycelium can also be used to fabricate chairs and other pieces of furniture.

“Fungal” Frontier
https://harvardsciencereview.com/astrom … -frontier/

Astromycology and Mycotecture
https://medium.com/@mudwtr/wtf-is-astro … 142c434c84

Fungi could hold the key to our travels in outer space, both in real life and science fiction.
https://fantasticfungi.com/everything-y … omycology/

Mycologist Paul Stamets discusses the potential extraterrestrial uses of fungi, including terraforming planets, building human habitats—and providing psilocybin therapy to astronauts
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti … mushrooms/

Basically, regolith is asteroid dust. [Research teams] have constructed [synthetic] regolith that is supposed to mimic the components that are found on the surface of asteroids and also on Mars. So we’re working with them now. I have a suite of about 700 strains of fungi in my cultural library. I made some recommendations, and I’m happy to say oyster mushrooms are one of the best ones that we’ve experimented with on the regolith so far.
And just recently we have found something synergistically that was unexpected when we took one species, gave it a nutritional source, and we wanted to know how far it would grow into the regolith [with its mycelial roots]. When we took one species of fungi, and we looked at the reach that it had in the regolith, then we combined it with other species of fungi—each of which did not have that great of a reach. When we had a plurality of fungal species together, the outreach was far greater than anticipated. In some ways, it just proves this whole concept about biodiversity.

Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-09-23 19:03:06)

Mars_B4_Moon · 2022-10-09 15:27:02

Time to get AI Robots Farming, water, material for printing, making of plastic, food farm and build a bizarre mushroom Biodome farm Moon and Mars base?

Mushroom farmer Matt Meares caught fungus fever a few years ago. Now he's turned a passion into a business.
https://www.newsminer.com/business/mush … bbb68.html

Mars_B4_Moon · 2023-05-12 03:21:03

The world’s largest collection of fungus is under Kew Gardens
https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/life/10052 … ew-gardens

Fungal networks that help trees communicate determine the nature of forests
https://www.earth.com/news/fungal-netwo … f-forests/
A groundbreaking study led by Nils Henriksson at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

The food systems that will feed Mars are set to transform food on Earth
https://theconversation.com/the-food-sy … rth-192492

Humans settling on the Moon and Mars in the future may live in homes 'grown' from mushrooms
https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/02/0 … -mushrooms

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#1 2013-06-12 09:24:22

Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#2 2013-06-12 11:39:47

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#3 2013-06-12 12:07:42

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#4 2013-06-13 01:47:02

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#5 2013-06-13 09:55:26

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#6 2016-12-03 19:48:30

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#7 2016-12-03 20:57:04

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#8 2016-12-03 21:25:58

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#9 2022-08-25 07:35:03

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#10 2022-09-23 18:54:30

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#11 2022-10-09 15:27:02

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

#12 2023-05-12 03:21:03

Re: Mushrooms as a terraforming aid

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