Turn of phrase

[kengr]

I was thinking of some of the problems involved with increasing the tech level of a planet that was pre-industrial. And one of the things you need are nitrates.

You need them for gunpowder (and later explosives). You need the to make various acids (theey act as a catlyst in creating sulfuric acid, and an ingredient in nitric acid).

And I caught myself thinking "if the planet will support human life, you'll have nitrates coming out of your asss..."

And then it hit me that that statement was *literally* true...

Oy.

Comments

[stickmaker]

I'm working - slowly - on a novel about the first extrasolar colony. At one point, the team's chief engineer decides it's time to roast some limestone as the first step in making cement. Then remembers that on Earth most limestone comes from seashells and that he hasn't seen any of that type of rock here, yet. What if the local sea creatures didn't build their shells the same way?

[seawasp]

Yeah, that's an issue. If it's not the right kind of rock or seashells, you may have issues. I had to discuss that in _Castaway Planet_.

[seawasp]

And in fact a large amount of the nitrates we've used for fertilizer came out of someone's butt -- generally birds or bats, that create huge deposits of nitrate-rich guano.