I suggest this thread at least tries to stick to the OP in-vitro method only and not explode into yet another should-we-eat-banana-flies-or-slugs-instead generic food thread. Mars section is littered with those.Again, vegan tears aside what else do you need to feed into these meat growing vats? Plants need relatively simple inorganic substances, wondering what kind of processes/machinery is needed to either convert plants for the cell cultures or are they fed artificially converting inorganics to meat cell edible form?I am assuming autotroph meat cells have not yet been invented
Mars is the last place that will get vat meat -- Mars will still be growing meat from animals after that has become obsolete on Earth.It seems intuitive that Mars will tend to have higher-tech production than Earth. That intuition is wrong. Mars production will tend to be lower tech as long as the size of the colony on Mars is much smaller than Earth's.Think of it in terms of the net amount of labor that needs to go into producing various goods. If something is done with individual human labor, the labor content will be about the same on Earth as on Mars. But anything done in a factory will have a much higher labor content on Mars than Earth, because either the scale of the factory on Mars will be much, much lower or the good will have to be imported from Earth because the factory doesn't even exist on Mars.Now it's true that resources available on Earth but more scarce on Mars might skew that in some cases. But I don't think that's the case with at least some animals. It may be impractical to raise a whale on Mars, but not a chicken. A chicken is a nice small factory for turning plant matter into meat. It doesn't require spare parts and trained technicians to repair it. It doesn't take a large factory to create another chicken. It doesn't require chemical inputs and cleaning agents that come from large industrial facilities.
Oxygen for humans and animals will probably have to be made from CO2 or from Martian soil in processing materials from soil until massive large scale agriculture and plants can be grown. Most of earths oxygen is produced from ocean algae, not from plants. Algae can be grown to feed tilapia and for animal pellets and will produce some oxygen, how much don't know.
There are no true vegetarians, they must consume eggs or fish or take supplements along with rice, soybean products, and nuts to get enough protein.
They already have small breeds of cattle that are around 3' or 1m at the shoulder. They even have small milk cows. Goats might be more efficient for milk production as they will eat almost any vegetation. Oh, lava tubes might not be necessary as Mars regolith can be piled over living areas as well as water storage. Only about 18" of water or 0.5m can stop a lot of radiation and water will be needed for the colony, and if stored in shallow overhead tanks, can provide gravity pressure for plumbing and serve as a radiation barrier. A lot of water will be needed for potable water, showering, watering plants and animals, and for fish and taking waste for fertilizer processing. Natural light will be needed sometimes and whether directly with windows, or through prisms indirectly will help avoid "cabin fever".
Quote from: ChrisWilson68 on 05/26/2015 11:24 amMars is the last place that will get vat meat -- Mars will still be growing meat from animals after that has become obsolete on Earth.It seems intuitive that Mars will tend to have higher-tech production than Earth. That intuition is wrong. Mars production will tend to be lower tech as long as the size of the colony on Mars is much smaller than Earth's.Think of it in terms of the net amount of labor that needs to go into producing various goods. If something is done with individual human labor, the labor content will be about the same on Earth as on Mars. But anything done in a factory will have a much higher labor content on Mars than Earth, because either the scale of the factory on Mars will be much, much lower or the good will have to be imported from Earth because the factory doesn't even exist on Mars.Now it's true that resources available on Earth but more scarce on Mars might skew that in some cases. But I don't think that's the case with at least some animals. It may be impractical to raise a whale on Mars, but not a chicken. A chicken is a nice small factory for turning plant matter into meat. It doesn't require spare parts and trained technicians to repair it. It doesn't take a large factory to create another chicken. It doesn't require chemical inputs and cleaning agents that come from large industrial facilities.Hadn't really considered the full implications of a vat meat system, but I think you may have a point. I would not be supprised to see a high meat pigmy cattle developed especially for such colonial situations. However, there will still need to be somewhat open areas for the "cattle" to roam, and using robots similar to Roombas to clean up messes in the grass, such an area also would be useful for colonists psychological conditions. Truth be told, it would likely be a VERY good idea to create a large enclosed green space with a variety of animals to remind early colonists of home and avoid "Cabin Fever" issues. Later colonists will likely build cities and green spaces in the lava tubes and caves of Mars. (I suspect that they may look much like the semi-tubular landscapes depicted for torus type space colonies, up through and including a central tubular elevator structure to the surface for surface operations.