Will we be able to develop alien agriculture?

Other planets lack soil to grow food. A possible solution to this problem would be to create an artificial atmosphere on an asteroid and then use fungi to convert the asteroid's rocks into soil for plant growth.

If they want to perform missions far away from the earth for a long time, astronauts must achieve self-sufficiency in food. Although non-human cultivation technology allows plants to grow in nutrient solutions, soil that can grow crops is still indispensable if large-scale space immigration is to be realized (such as establishing a Mars colony, etc.).

So, scientists proposed using fungi to convert carbon-containing asteroids into soil needed for cultivating crops. The asteroid will be wrapped in a huge transparent film, which will not only allow sunlight to pass through, but also maintain the atmospheric environment required for fungi to survive.

The fungus grows long, thin hyphae that penetrate deeply into the asteroid's interior, which cracks the rock. In addition, fungal spores contain acidic substances that can dissolve rocks. Scientists believe that fungi played a decisive role in the formation of Earth's soil. They are good at breaking down complex organic compounds, including many toxic substances. Experiments have shown that oyster mushrooms can almost completely purify soil contaminated by crude oil.

The article is excerpted from "Singularity Science"