Space travel has inspired a lot of innovation. In the field of solar energy, for instance. But there’s an obvious domain that is still to be conquered: human waste. Human beings are the only animals in the ecosystem of the planet whose waste is not feeding for further evolution. But scientists are now finding ways to transform human urine into products that can support the needs of space travel. They combined a specific type of yeast with human urine and turned it into a plastic that could be fed into a 3D printer to make tools. The urine-yeast combo was also used to create omega-3 fatty acids for nutritional supplements.
Using waste: Researchers harness human urine to make products in space
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