The blog post yesterday inspired Warringer and me to get it into Fenspace...
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[big]Bio-Globes[/big]
History
Bio-Globes are a recent development in Fenspace, which began at the end of the Boskonian war. While Fenspace already could produce lots of food at Wonderland and the Jovian system, smaller settlements in remote places had discovered that being totally dependent on one or two suppliers lightminutes away could be a problem.
In the late 2013s, a small group of Belters began to look for alternatives. After some time of experimentation, they began to work on a concept published in 2012 by Conceptual Devices on Earth (link) and built the first Bio-Globes.
Design
The typical Fenspace Bio-Globes are double layered geodesic domes of five to eight meters diameter, which are used for growing plants, fruits and fish. On a series of trays along the walls of the transparent dome, different kinds of plants and tree-fruits are raised. Water is transported back and forth between the plant area and the fish tanks to exchange nutrients between them.
While most plants can be grown in hydroponics or aeroponics, others, such as potatoes need to be grown in actual soil.
Most outer layers are made from waved materials and are designed to be completely airtight, while the handwaved parts keep the atmosphere within clean and fresh and produce artificial gravity. Some Bio-Globes in asteroid settlements or in places far away from the sun add bright lights to sustain the plants, other add solar panels for generating electricity used in the inner dome.
The inner shell is often completely handwavium free to lower the chance of cross-polluting the ecosphere inside. In addition to the plants and the fish tanks, the Bio-Globes contain a small recycling container for most kinds of organic matter as well as smaller containers with bacteria that reduce the ammonium/ammoniac of the fish wastes to nitrates that can be used by the plants.
Additionally they provide variety in the daily work of belter habitats and provide emergency shelters in the event of a hull breach.
Culture
While the original designers built their Globes mostly for themselves, the design quickly spread among the small settlements of the belt and beyond. Fen began to trade design modifications, plants and fish species between each other, others began to construct additional Bio-Globes for friends and neighbors.
For most of the smaller habitats the Bio-Globes also provide a place to teach Fenkinder who were born and raised on Fenspace responsibility for their environment and in some cases with a way to keep pets (fish) that are not impacting too heavily on the life support systems.
Today, the Bio-Globes are a widespread installation among remote Fen settlements. While most of them are still buying food from external sources to increase the biomass of their constructions, the Globes have become an important part of Fenspace’s food production, as they provide a basic minimum most habitats can survive on.
There are some commercial variants of easy to setup Globes including plants and fish, but most of the globes started as self made constructions and gifts by other Fen. Most settlements prefer to use multiple smaller Globes to reduce the chance of losing their whole local food source in a single accident as well as having multiple harvests per year spread over the number of Globes.
Known Variants
Depending on the construction, and quirks of the outer dome structure, various Bio-Globes may only reach certain temperatures on the inside, allowing to grow only some specific plants.
Some of these Bio-Globes are called ‘Winter Globes or ‘Cabbage Globes’ because they are generally used to grow cabbage and other cold season plants.
Others are known as ‘Summer Globes or ‘Citrus Globes’ as they are used to grow citrus plants and other hot season plants.
There are also some larger Globes in existence, used to grow plants such as rice, wheat, soy and corn. Generally the habitats with these ‘Wheat Globes’ tend to also produce local alcoholic drinks.
Trivia:
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[big]Bio-Globes[/big]
History
Bio-Globes are a recent development in Fenspace, which began at the end of the Boskonian war. While Fenspace already could produce lots of food at Wonderland and the Jovian system, smaller settlements in remote places had discovered that being totally dependent on one or two suppliers lightminutes away could be a problem.
In the late 2013s, a small group of Belters began to look for alternatives. After some time of experimentation, they began to work on a concept published in 2012 by Conceptual Devices on Earth (link) and built the first Bio-Globes.
Design
The typical Fenspace Bio-Globes are double layered geodesic domes of five to eight meters diameter, which are used for growing plants, fruits and fish. On a series of trays along the walls of the transparent dome, different kinds of plants and tree-fruits are raised. Water is transported back and forth between the plant area and the fish tanks to exchange nutrients between them.
While most plants can be grown in hydroponics or aeroponics, others, such as potatoes need to be grown in actual soil.
Most outer layers are made from waved materials and are designed to be completely airtight, while the handwaved parts keep the atmosphere within clean and fresh and produce artificial gravity. Some Bio-Globes in asteroid settlements or in places far away from the sun add bright lights to sustain the plants, other add solar panels for generating electricity used in the inner dome.
The inner shell is often completely handwavium free to lower the chance of cross-polluting the ecosphere inside. In addition to the plants and the fish tanks, the Bio-Globes contain a small recycling container for most kinds of organic matter as well as smaller containers with bacteria that reduce the ammonium/ammoniac of the fish wastes to nitrates that can be used by the plants.
Additionally they provide variety in the daily work of belter habitats and provide emergency shelters in the event of a hull breach.
Culture
While the original designers built their Globes mostly for themselves, the design quickly spread among the small settlements of the belt and beyond. Fen began to trade design modifications, plants and fish species between each other, others began to construct additional Bio-Globes for friends and neighbors.
For most of the smaller habitats the Bio-Globes also provide a place to teach Fenkinder who were born and raised on Fenspace responsibility for their environment and in some cases with a way to keep pets (fish) that are not impacting too heavily on the life support systems.
Today, the Bio-Globes are a widespread installation among remote Fen settlements. While most of them are still buying food from external sources to increase the biomass of their constructions, the Globes have become an important part of Fenspace’s food production, as they provide a basic minimum most habitats can survive on.
There are some commercial variants of easy to setup Globes including plants and fish, but most of the globes started as self made constructions and gifts by other Fen. Most settlements prefer to use multiple smaller Globes to reduce the chance of losing their whole local food source in a single accident as well as having multiple harvests per year spread over the number of Globes.
Known Variants
Depending on the construction, and quirks of the outer dome structure, various Bio-Globes may only reach certain temperatures on the inside, allowing to grow only some specific plants.
Some of these Bio-Globes are called ‘Winter Globes or ‘Cabbage Globes’ because they are generally used to grow cabbage and other cold season plants.
Others are known as ‘Summer Globes or ‘Citrus Globes’ as they are used to grow citrus plants and other hot season plants.
There are also some larger Globes in existence, used to grow plants such as rice, wheat, soy and corn. Generally the habitats with these ‘Wheat Globes’ tend to also produce local alcoholic drinks.
Trivia:
- Bio-Globes cannot provide food from nothing, it is the responsibility of the owner to provide enough recycled biomatter as a replacement for the harvested food.
- Some larger spaceships carry small Bio-Globes to provide food on longer journeys for the crew.
- A basic 6 meter Bio-Globe can produce up to 400kg plants and 100kg fish per year, enough to feed 12-15 people. Some habitats with multiple Globes are exporting food.
- Tilapia and Oreochromis are the most used fish in Bio-Globes.
- Because most Bio-Domes use Handwavium only for life-support, they are practically quirk free.
