We have created life!

...Well, not really. We just wanted to give you an update regarding our plant-growing experiment. The barley is already sprouting and potatoes are looking good. So far there hasn't been much difference between artificial and traditional growing environments so we'll just have to wait and see.

PS: If you are living in the Joensuu area, you might be interested to know that we are presenting our project in this year's SciFest. Hopefully we'll see you there!

Potatoes in Mars?

Hi, everybody!
It's almost spring here in Joensuu and we are eagerly waiting to see this year's first flowers to bloom.
In the meantime we decided to do some plant-growing of our own - our newest concept includes potatoes, oat and barley. If all goes well, astronauts in Mars might be able to enjoy a
Currently we are testing which one is the best, good old regular soil or an artificial growing environment.
We haven't forgotten about the insects either. Earlier we tried to find the best way to make food out of insects but now we are trying to make food for them. The plants we chose are supposed to feed bugs along with astronauts.
What do you think, do grasshoppers prefer mashed potatoes or porrige?

6.3. Insect-survey results

Hello again!

Thank you for everyone, who answered in our first survey (about eating insects)! During the Marsraiser-event last Monday we asked some new survey-questions, with the opportunity to taste actual insects in different forms. 

We prepared crickets (sposored by EntoCube), in both chili and garlic and herbs. The brave tasters were surprised in a good way, many referred to the crickets to remind them of just snacks like chips or similar. 

We also baked some nice cookies, with cricket-powder, ants and worms. So nice to see people open up to new experiences without too much hesitation. Hopefully the astronauts will be as open-minded to the idea!

Some data-analysis of the FIRST SURVEY showed us that (with over 300 answers):

• 72 % of the people would be willing to taste insects (positive or indifferent)
• Top 4 of preferred insects were grasshoppers, ants, worms and beetles. Not many would be willing to eat spiders, wonder why?
• Taste is the main attribute, when people are deciding what to eat. Health effects come second.

During Marsraiser, in the SECOND SURVEY, we found that (with 28 answers):

• People were more positive about eating insects, after they tasted them during Marsraiser (when asked both beforehand, and after tasting). Positive feelings grew 24,7 percentage points, while negative feelings decreased 10,7 percentage points.
• People were also open to take insects into their daily diet, once they tasted them. 
• Total of 92.6% was feeling positive after tasting.
• 74% was willing to eat insects as a part of their daily diet

When looking at our survey-results, you have to keep in mind that the aims were different. In the first survey we wanted to find out peoples over-all attitudes towards insects as food, and in the second we were studying how does actually eating the insects affect those prejudices (or if it doesn't affect anything). 

(More information on analytics with graphics you can check HERE. )

 Few pictures of our epic cooking:

Here we have about 300 pieces of delicious food just waiting to be prepared.

First we of course killed the crickets, as humanely as possible, and then boiled them for a few minutes, and let them dry out. Then we divided them into two groups, one waiting to be fried with garlic and herbs, and the other with chili and lime.

The outcome was very nice! Just waiting for this to become a socially accepted in the western cultures too!

Until next time, and please comment, would you eat insects instead of/ with your regular diet?

29.2. The Marsraiser!

Thank you for the Marsraiser!

Thank you to everyone who was interested in hearing about our Epic Challenges, and was brave enough to try insect-food, drive the miniature Mars-rover, or take a look at Mars landscapes with virtual reality. What a special way to spend the leap day of 2016, you taking a leap toward us and us taking a step in reaching our goals.

Krista from bioMARS giving our pitch talk to visitors.

Many were eager to try out our insect-cookies, which had crickets, ants, and some of them had worms.

We also prepared some fried crickets, with chili, and with garlic. Very tasty!

Here are the suspicious faces of bioMARS' Mariia and Kristina, but they had the courage to try some as well!

Everyone at Marsraiser were lucky enough to take the miniature Mars-Rover for a spin.

Here is Olli presenting the Oculus Rift, where we could see a Martian landscape!

Our Epic teams wish to thank everyone who contributed to the event!

Sincerely, bioMARS

Team Red Sandbox

(Isn't it just the worst when you show up at a party and someone's wearing the same thing as you? ;) )

22.2. Call to Tim Kopra

Hello y'all, and with interesting news!

We got to make an arranged video-call to the ISS, and to talk with astronaut Tim Kopra. Arcusys was kind to host the event here in Joensuu. Afterwards some local media interviewed us, and you can check some material here (interview in Finnish only, but Mr. Kopras introduction video is in english).

We cannot say what information was exchanged exactly, but we had prepared some questions alongside Team Red Sandbox about our unique challenges, and asked Kopra for his insight on the matters. His experiences and knowledge of the realities about space-travelling will help us develop our concepts. Not to mention how huge of a privilege it was just to be present at such a call.

Did you know Mr. Kopra is Finnish-American? He is very respectable for his accomplishments in both the US army, and as an astronaut. You can read more about his career HERE.

Thank you for all your support! Next week we have all new exciting news, so stay tuned!

Here we have a picture of some of bioMARS' and Team Red Sandbox' members waiting for the call to start.

Interview with an astronaut?

Hello!
This time we don't have much new to report you - everyone is still working with their experiments - but stay tuned for next week! BioMars will soon be discussing with astronaut Timothy Kopra who is currently working at International Space Station. We'll be sure to tell the highlights here at our blog so be sure to check them out. Have a nice week!

There's always more to find out!

Hello, everyone!
First of all I want to thank everyone who filled out our insect-eating survey! Now we have plenty of data to analyze and use in our future concepts. We are also glad that so many of the participants are willing to try out actually eating some insects. Now the only thing we need to do is to find some nice grasshopper cookie recipies...
This week we started doing more experiments. Because we have so much to find out and only a finite amount of time we split the group into three sub-teams.
I won't tell precise details about these experiments yet but I can tell you we need an air-tight cabinet, fly maggots and some basil saplings. Sounds fun, right?
The other sub-teams' stuff is so secret even we don't know much about it. (Or then we were just too busy with our own plans to ask them. Who knows?) Hopefully things will clarify over the next week.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!