[HN Gopher] DARPA exploring growing bio structures of "unprecede...
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DARPA exploring growing bio structures of "unprecedented size" in
microgravity
Author : Jimmc414
Score : 93 points
Date : 2025-03-04 17:16 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (sam.gov)
(TXT) w3m dump (sam.gov)
| transistor-man wrote:
| I'm here to welcome the era of bamboo based spaceships
| ceejayoz wrote:
| There's a little one in orbit right now.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LignoSat
|
| (although that's magnolia wood, not bamboo)
| itishappy wrote:
| I for one am prepared for our evolution into the Ousters.
|
| If you haven't read the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons, go read
| it. It's worth it.
|
| https://hyperioncantos.fandom.com/wiki/Ousters
| Henchman21 wrote:
| I immediately thought of the Templar's tree ships. Clearly
| time for a re-read!
| mouse_ wrote:
| previous: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43185769
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| Whoever is doing DARPA's PR and, apparently GR, since I guess
| federal agencies have to do that now, deserves a raise.
| arolihas wrote:
| doesn't sound very efficient to me
| lovich wrote:
| what is GR?
| azemetre wrote:
| Guessing government relations, similar to PR being public
| relations.
| JumpCrisscross wrote:
| Yup. Lobbyists are outside your org. GR coordinates their
| messaging.
| lovich wrote:
| Unrelated, but I appreciate the proper usage of the
| English umlaut
| jihadjihad wrote:
| The formal name for it is _diaeresis_ [0]. The New Yorker
| is famous for being a high-profile publication that
| enforces its usage.
|
| 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaeresis_(diacritic)
| jordanb wrote:
| EP: Elon Pandering, an essential function for any agency these
| days.
| nulld3v wrote:
| LOL as much as I disagree with Elon's current stint in
| government, this is probably among the most tame projects in
| DARPA's portfolio.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| This is a theme in "The Web Between the Worlds" [1]
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Web_Between_the_Worlds
| card_zero wrote:
| Wow, there's some serious zeitgeist going on there:
|
| _This novel was published almost simultaneously with The
| Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C. Clarke. Through an amazing
| coincidence the two novels contained many similarities. Both
| protagonists are engineers who have built the world 's longest
| bridge using a machine named the "Spider", both of whom are
| hired to build a space elevator, and both engineers modify
| their Spiders to produce a crystalline fiber._
|
| It's like the simultaneous invention of calculus. People are
| conduits for independently-living ideas.
| fooker wrote:
| If you have spent time in academia, this concept is ever
| present.
|
| Somehow all the academics in a particular field all over the
| world just happen to agree on a narrow set of ideas to
| explore next.
|
| Most of science happens like this, yes even the Newtons and
| Einsteins of the world explored ideas in this narrow frontier
| of next ideas. There used to be exceptions in the distant
| past but modern science does not tolerate exceptions.
| moelf wrote:
| this. Even something as singular as the prediction of the
| Higgs boson was ~simultaneously reached by different
| groups(!) of people https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_PRL_
| symmetry_breaking_pap...
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I don't see it as that singular. Either
|
| (1) hep-th had too many people chasing too few problems
| back then, or
|
| (2) "scalar field with a mexican hat potential" is one of
| the simplest field theories you can write though it
| inspires all sorts of ideas like the Higgs Mechanism,
| Inflation, etc.
| pegasus wrote:
| Calculus I can understand, but the kind of coincidence GP
| describes is much harder to explain.
| glenstein wrote:
| When you say "exceptions" I can't tell if you mean to be
| hinting toward something like new-agey crystals, or
| something more like DARPA bio structures, or something else
| entirely. What is the frontier of unexplored knowledge that
| is forbidden by academia?
| dekhn wrote:
| I can't remember the source (xkcd?) that drew any
| individual scientist's contribution as a tiny little bump
| on the edge of a huge circle.
|
| It's not talked about it much outside of research groups,
| but for any field, there is a small number of people who
| are currently pushing the boundaries, and they all read
| each other's papers and have a good idea of what the next
| question to ask is. It can often be a race to engineer an
| experiment that convinces the reviewers that your article
| should be published first. It's a sort of
| cooperation/competition that moves the field forward
| faster. These areas often move so fast that nobody even
| bothers to write down the current problems, it's just sort
| of talked about in person.
|
| Put another way, the successful discoverers are the ones
| looking for their keys at the end of the streetlight:
| "Science is a bit like the joke about the drunk who is
| looking under a lamppost for a key that he has lost on the
| other side of the street, because that's where the light
| is. It has no other choice." (Chomsky). Few if anybody
| looking where there is no light discovers anything (even if
| it's sitting there in the dark), or at least, nobody
| believes them unless they provide significant evidence
| (like building a new lamp)
| Telemakhos wrote:
| The idea of spider webs in space was explored long before, in
| the second century AD, by Lucian of Samosata in his _Alethe
| diegemata_ or "True Stories." Spiders run webs from the sun
| (land of the Heliots) and the moon (the Selenites) so that a
| vast space battle can be waged on a plain between them.
| dekhn wrote:
| I initially downvoted this because it sounded ludicrous and
| couldn't be true, but indeed,
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_True_Story
|
| Always fun to see stuff written almost 2 thousand years ago
| about life on other planets.
| itishappy wrote:
| _" A clear case of plagiarism? No -- merely an idea whose
| time has come."_ - Clarke
| xeonmc wrote:
| Between this and the drone-swarm command experiment from
| yesterday, seems like whoever is heading DARPA mains Zerg in
| StarCraft.
| 7thaccount wrote:
| Might also have something to do with the war in Ukraine
| completely changing our understanding of modern warfare.
| Defense projects take decades to design and build and now out
| doctrine is somewhat impacted by how effective drones are
| proving to be.
| Freedom2 wrote:
| Could you clarify what this means? Is this some inside
| HackerNews reference I'm unaware of?
| ziddoap wrote:
| It's a StarCraft reference.
|
| https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Zerg
|
| _" The Zerg Swarm is a terrifying and ruthless amalgamation
| of biologically advanced, arthropodal aliens. [...] They are
| named "the Swarm" per their ability to rapidly create
| strains, and the relentless assaults they employ to overwhelm
| their foes."_
| jdaodjsi wrote:
| This is one of the three main factions in StarCraft. Think
| hiveminds and bugs.
| malwrar wrote:
| Starcraft is a real-time strategy game, and Zerg is one of
| three factions you can play in the game. Zerg units are
| individually weak but cheap compared to the other factions,
| so Zerg players typically compose swarms of disposable units
| when staging and conducting attacks. It's also quicker to
| make large swarms, since there isn't a sequential build queue
| for Zerg unit construction. It makes for a pretty interesting
| switch in mindset compared to the other sides, where there is
| much more emphasis on preserving one's units. Some of the
| more obnoxious strategies, like the Zerg rush, have become
| memes among gamers.
| NickC25 wrote:
| >Zerg units are individually weak but cheap compared to the
| other factions
|
| And fast. So. fucking. fast.
|
| I hate playing against Zerg.
| bluSCALE4 wrote:
| Zerg is a playable race in the game Starcraft. They are bio
| units where everything you build is biological.
| nntwozz wrote:
| This is also apt:
|
| The term "Zerg Rush", or "zerging", is now commonly used to
| describe sacrificing economic development in favor of using
| many cheap, yet weak units to overwhelm an enemy by attrition
| or sheer numbers.
|
| -- Wikipedia
| more_corn wrote:
| Drone swarm is tos just sayin.
| eyvindn wrote:
| could you link the drone swarm command article?
| booleandilemma wrote:
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43209358
| kazinator wrote:
| We kind of have microgravity on Earth under water, which provides
| apparent reduced weight due to buoyancy. Coral reefs and all
| that.
|
| Underground root/rhizome structures are also bio structures
| existing in a kind of microgravity since they are firmly
| supported by the surrounding soil they are packed into.
| paxys wrote:
| Yeah, but getting these structures into space is 99% of the
| challenge. Best to build them there to begin with.
| Falimonda wrote:
| Can we / will be ever be able to grow bioengineered coral at an
| accelerated rate with a desired growth structure/direction in
| space?
| daveguy wrote:
| Accelerated rate with equivalent integrity probably requires
| some engineering tricks nature hasn't "figured out" yet. Given
| nature has had a few billion years of massively parallel
| processing of the original genetic algorithm, it's unlikely.
| Especially considering ASI is a pipe dream. Also, sea creatures
| use buoyancy to their advantage.
|
| Maybe we will find other structure development systems from
| combining existing pieces of biologic systems. But that's also
| unlikely, because biologic systems are so incredibly entangled
| (to use a software concurrency/complexity term).
|
| That said, it is an awesome research direction, just for the
| novel construction techniques potential.
| Havoc wrote:
| Hilariously obvious that someone's pet project got tacked on
| there at the end. Kilometer wide structures please - or
| alternatively can you make us a tube of bio glue to fix
| punctures?
| genman wrote:
| What would be feed stock for this?
| smfjaw wrote:
| the flood!
| krashidov wrote:
| serious question - how do you water it?
| tz18 wrote:
| This is the sort of shit that gets you glassed by the watchers
| eGQjxkKF6fif wrote:
| Would hemp be viable in this case?
| yummypaint wrote:
| Wonder if anyone is looking into splicing those spider silk genes
| into a fungus. Maybe the mycelium could gain enough tensile
| strength to hold pressure? Maybe exude the proteins and form
| strong tubes around itself? Fungal structures are already
| surprisingly light for how strong they are.
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(page generated 2025-03-04 23:00 UTC)