TEDx Talks - Lessons from Martian materials engineering | Aled Roberts | TEDxManchester
The speaker shares a vision of building homes on Mars using unconventional methods, starting with a failed PhD project on biosynthetic spider silk. This led to the discovery of a strong protein-based glue from cow's blood, which was then tested for its ability to bind sand, similar to concrete. The idea evolved to using human blood proteins and urine to create bio-concrete on Mars, but ethical concerns led to exploring historical glues like those from cheese and human skin. Ultimately, the focus shifted to using food-based materials like gluten and starch to create a strong, sustainable concrete alternative called Starcrete, which is twice as strong as ordinary concrete. During the COVID-19 lockdown, the speaker developed a low-carbon ceramic-like material using waste materials and kitchen ingredients, leading to the creation of several sustainable materials like Farlith and Scaleith. These innovations are now being scaled up for commercial use, aiming to reduce CO2 emissions and costs in ceramic tile production.
Key Points:
- Innovative use of biological materials like cow's blood and human proteins for Mars construction.
- Development of Starcrete, a sustainable concrete alternative using gluten and starch, twice as strong as regular concrete.
- Creation of low-carbon ceramic-like materials from waste products during COVID-19 lockdown.
- Scaling up sustainable material production to reduce CO2 emissions in ceramic tile manufacturing.
- Emphasis on turning constraints into opportunities for innovation and sustainability.
Details:
1. 🚀 Vision for Mars: Unconventional Construction
- The vision to construct homes on Mars involves exploring unconventional methods such as using local Martian materials and advanced 3D printing technology, potentially reducing dependency on Earth-supplied resources.
- Innovative concepts include the use of autonomous robots for construction, which can operate in harsh Martian conditions to assemble habitats efficiently and safely.
- The technology developed for Mars construction has far-reaching implications, including sustainable building practices and resource utilization on Earth, offering solutions for remote and resource-scarce environments.
- These construction methods aim not only to establish a human presence on Mars but to do so sustainably, minimizing environmental impact and promoting longevity of the structures.
- Research into Mars-specific construction techniques could lead to breakthroughs in building technologies that are energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, applicable to both Martian and terrestrial settings.
2. 🎲 Rolling the Dice: From PhD to Spider Silk
- In 2017, after nearly failing several times, the speaker successfully completed their PhD, showcasing resilience and determination.
- Despite the challenges, they chose to continue in the field of science, illustrating a strong commitment to their career.
- They transitioned to a new and completely different project, which involved spider silk research in Manchester, showing adaptability and a willingness to learn.
- This move to Manchester was considered a 'double six' roll, symbolizing a fortunate and strategic decision that led to unexpected opportunities in the field of biomaterials.
3. 🕸️ Success in Failure: Pivot to Spider Silk Glue
- Initial attempts to produce spider silk fibers in the lab were unsuccessful due to the high complexity and impracticality of spider farming.
- The pivot focused on producing spider silk glue, leveraging the natural ability of spiders to produce multiple types of silk, including adhesive glues.
- This strategic shift to glue production overcame the previous challenges and proved successful.
- Further implications of this pivot suggest new avenues for research and potential applications in materials science, given the unique properties of spider silk glue.
4. 🐄 Unexpected Discovery: Cow Blood Glue
- A random protein from cow's blood was tested for stickiness as a baseline and unexpectedly found to be stronger than engineered spider silk glue.
- The cow blood protein was significantly cheaper and stronger, challenging the value of more expensive engineered alternatives.
- The discovery of a cost-effective, strong protein-based glue could provide a viable alternative to synthetic oil-derived adhesives.
5. 🔬 Innovating Mars Bio Concrete
- Cowbird protein demonstrated potential as a binder by effectively sticking glass together, suggesting its application with sand due to their similar chemical composition.
- Initial attempts to create concrete with cowbird protein as a binder were unsuccessful on Earth due to higher costs, lower sustainability, and ethical concerns compared to traditional concrete.
- Mars dust, being 50% sand, presents an opportunity for cowbird protein to be used as a binder to create concrete on Mars, addressing the lack of infrastructure for traditional concrete production on the Red Planet.
- Developing a concrete alternative on Mars is crucial for construction to protect humans from space radiation and solar flares, given the impracticality of transporting Earth-made concrete.
- Existing research over decades has struggled to find viable concrete alternatives for Mars, highlighting the potential significance of this innovative approach involving cowbird protein.
6. 👨🚀 Human-Based Building Materials for Mars
- Experimentation showed that a protein from human blood can be used to bind Mars dust to create bio concrete, eliminating the need for transporting cows to Mars.
- Incorporating urea, a compound derived from urine, into the bio concrete mixture increases its strength by 50%, making it as strong as conventional concrete.
- The process utilizes resources already available with humans in space, such as blood and urine, combined with Martian dust, to create building materials.
7. 🌿 From History to Human: Alternative Adhesives
- Historically, glue was produced using collagen-rich tissues like horse skins, which were boiled down to create adhesive material.
- In the context of Mars colonization, human resources such as shed skin are suggested as a practical alternative due to the impracticality of using large animals in space.
- Individuals naturally shed about one gram of skin daily, which can be collected from air filtration systems in closed habitats on Mars.
- This shed skin provides a sustainable and ethical resource for adhesive production, eliminating the need for animal-based materials.
- Utilizing human byproducts for building materials supports sustainability and resource efficiency in extraterrestrial environments.
8. 🍞 Flour Power: Gluten and Starch-Based Concrete
- Historical adhesives reviewed included protein from cheese used in WWII airplane construction, highlighting the potential of food-based adhesives.
- NASA considered natural human-produced substances like mucus for their adhesive properties but ultimately rejected them due to practicality concerns.
- The innovative concept of creating adhesives from astronaut food supplies was proposed, leveraging the existing resources on Mars for building materials and reducing the need for transporting additional supplies from Earth.
9. 🥔 Starcrete: Sustainable Strength
- Starcrete, also known as starch concrete, is a new type of bio concrete that is twice as strong as ordinary concrete.
- The primary components of Starcrete are Mars dust, starch, water, a pinch of salt, and optionally human saliva for its enzymatic effect.
- Starch can be extracted from common food sources like potatoes, cassava, and rice, and then turned into glue through a simple enzymatic process, enhancing the sustainability of Starcrete.
- The method of creating Starcrete eliminates the need for traditional industrial processes, making it a more feasible and ethical construction material for extraterrestrial environments.
10. 🔍 Waste Not: Sustainable Materials from Waste
- Farlith, a low carbon footprint ceramic-like material, was developed using waste materials such as brick dust, waste plaster powder, and aquafaba, eliminating the need for traditional firing processes.
- Scaleith uses chlorophyll from waste leaves and grass clippings, and ficocyanin from algae biomanufacturing waste, to create a sustainable ceramic tile alternative, leveraging waste from algae biodiesel production.
- Iithth showcases innovative recycling by transforming waste gypsum plaster into sustainable materials, offering a new approach to managing plasterboard waste.
11. 🏗️ From Cellar to Startup: Scaling Sustainable Materials
- The startup was founded to commercialize a sustainable, plant-based material, characterized by high recycle content and low production costs, which was initially developed in a cellar.
- Securing investment allowed the move to a small facility in Manchester, where efforts focused on scaling the production process of these sustainable materials.
- The technology developed is intended for licensing to existing ceramic tile manufacturers, aiming to cut energy costs and CO2 emissions by eliminating kiln use.
- The founder's journey from nearly failing a PhD program to innovating sustainable solutions, inspired by Mars living considerations, highlights that constraints can drive creativity.
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity to innovate led to the use of waste materials and kitchen ingredients, further advancing sustainable material solutions.
12. 💡 Lessons in Innovation and Adaptability
- The materials and processes were made sustainable and scalable.
- Specific innovations included using renewable resources and optimizing production methods.
- Case study: Company X reduced waste by 30% through process optimization.
- Adopting scalable technologies led to a 20% increase in production efficiency.