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    Chinese astronauts make rocket fuel and oxygen in space

    (www.livescience.com)
    298 points Teever | 15 comments | 24 Aug 25 17:54 UTC | HN request time: 1.139s | source | bottom
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    kevinmershon ◴[26 Aug 25 22:09 UTC] No.45032976[source]▶
    > This is a similar reaction to photosynthesis in plants, which produces glucose instead of rocket fuel.

    This is silly, but also begs the sillier question why we aren't bioengineering plants to produce rocket fuel

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    andrewflnr ◴[26 Aug 25 22:20 UTC] No.45033082[source]▶
    Why aren't we engineering plants to produce automotive fuel? We ought to at least be able to do diesel.
    replies(14): >>45033143 #>>45033153 #>>45033209 #>>45033372 #>>45033429 #>>45033480 #>>45033645 #>>45034388 #>>45034399 #>>45035296 #>>45035708 #>>45035938 #>>45037003 #>>45037073 #
    1. staplung ◴[26 Aug 25 22:37 UTC] No.45033209[source]▶
    Biodiesal is already a thing. Also, we (the US) already blend a portion (about 10%) of corn-derived ethanol to our gasoline. There are problems with it though, one of which is that overall, it probably has a higher carbon footprint (fertilizer, harvesting, processing, etc.) than just not using it.
    replies(3): >>45033241 #>>45033545 #>>45034263 #
    2. dexwiz ◴[26 Aug 25 22:41 UTC] No.45033241[source]▶
    Corn ethanol is a farm subsidy. It gets greenwashed as something positive because plant=natural=good.
    replies(1): >>45033496 #
    3. QuadmasterXLII ◴[26 Aug 25 23:14 UTC] No.45033496[source]▶
    It’s not great for the environment, but it keeps a food surplus available in crisis instantly by just turning off the ethanol production facilities
    replies(2): >>45033909 #>>45034035 #
    4. awesome_dude ◴[26 Aug 25 23:20 UTC] No.45033545[source]▶
    It's my understanding that corn produces the most (edible) calories per square metre of any of our farmed plants

    edit: Looked it up - Rice has the highest number of calories per square metre of farmland, just that it requires marshy/swamp land to grow.

    replies(1): >>45034046 #
    5. chairmansteve ◴[27 Aug 25 00:11 UTC] No.45033909{3}[source]▶
    True. But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn.
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    6. dexwiz ◴[27 Aug 25 00:31 UTC] No.45034035{3}[source]▶
    -
    replies(2): >>45034584 #>>45034600 #
    7. lovemenot ◴[27 Aug 25 00:32 UTC] No.45034046[source]▶
    There are many varietals of rice. Most do not grow in marsh land. Farmers often do flood the fields at the beginning of a rice growing season in order to drown out any competing plants. Flooding is not necessary though. Rice will grow with normal irrigation.
    replies(1): >>45035458 #
    8. ReptileMan ◴[27 Aug 25 01:04 UTC] No.45034263[source]▶
    >corn-derived ethanol to our gasoline

    Stupidest possible thing to do with food. Especially since in some operations you put in more diesel than take ethanol out.

    9. murderfs ◴[27 Aug 25 01:50 UTC] No.45034584{4}[source]▶
    Surely you can make cornstarch from it, and that problem only lasts a year.
    10. ofalkaed ◴[27 Aug 25 01:52 UTC] No.45034600{4}[source]▶
    They are used for all sorts of things we eat, corn nuts, hominy, grits, corn meal/flour and all the things those are used in. Personally, I find it far more palatable than sweet corn and it is far more useful/versitile/nutritious than sweet corn; it is a traditional cereal grain and can be used for all those things we use wheat and rye for.
    11. dragontamer ◴[27 Aug 25 04:21 UTC] No.45035430{4}[source]▶
    If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel?

    The only real issue with Ethanol IMO is that corn Ethanol is preventing progress in advanced synthesis made out of, ex: switchgrass cellulose. There are better sources of ethanol if we invest into them.

    replies(1): >>45071210 #
    12. phanimahesh ◴[27 Aug 25 04:27 UTC] No.45035458{3}[source]▶
    Yes. Rice tolerated flooding better than weeds so it is used as a cheap and easy weed control. Also some places grow fish alongside rice in the same land, getting some extra pest control and fertilizer for free.
    13. motorest ◴[27 Aug 25 06:10 UTC] No.45035979{4}[source]▶
    > But it might be cheaper to store the corn for a year and then dispose of it, replace it with fresh corn.

    I don't think any food crisis scenario in the US involves a road bump that spans a single year and doesn't disrupt existing crops.

    14. chairmansteve ◴[30 Aug 25 01:43 UTC] No.45071210{5}[source]▶
    "If you are disposing of the corn anyway, why not turn it into Ethanol and then burn it as car fuel?"

    It costs more money and has a higher carbon footprint than simply using gasoline.

    replies(1): >>45091622 #
    15. dragontamer ◴[01 Sep 25 10:57 UTC] No.45091622{6}[source]▶
    More money yes.

    The carbon footprint thing doesn't past review of the overall literature. There's one outspoken guy who has to bend over backwards and publishes media articles rather than keeping things academic who tries to make the public believe what you say, but I'm not convinced he's arguing in any serious manner.