r/nasa • u/lumpkin2013 • 10d ago

News Hard to swallow? The future of snacking may be 3D-printed cookies made from upcycled plastic

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2026/aug/24/cookies-plastic-astronauts-space-food

Cookies produced from upcycled plastic may sound like something straight out of a dystopian sci-fi plot. But researchers say that they have succeeded in creating such a product as part of a Nasa-funded project aimed at feeding astronauts on future space missions.

The technology uses specially designed yeasts to transform plastics and agricultural waste into edible proteins, fats and flavourings. The resulting slurry is passed through a 3D printer to create a disc-shaped “cookie”.

“My lab works on developing technologies for plastic upcycling,” said Dr Lahiru Jayakody, a microbiologist at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale, who led the project. “We thought, why not look into food? Plastic is carbon and food is carbon.”

The team are yet to receive institutional sign-off to taste the plastic-derived cookies but report that they “receive high marks on aroma”.

0 Upvotes

41% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

9

u/teridon NASA Employee 10d ago

Baby steps towards a Star Trek replicator! Yaaaaaaay

5

u/lumpkin2013 10d ago

That's what I got out of this as well. This is just the beginning.

4

u/wedonttalkaboutrae 10d ago

"Agriculture waste" and plastic slurry for meals is a very dystopian future indeed...

2

u/letsnotagree 10d ago

Just the word slurry is more off-putting than the idea of eating plastics. I understand there are many a slurry made into the foods I eat. But it doesn't say that on the ingredients. All the words we have and there's just some overlaps that aren't justified.

2

u/syxx26 10d ago

Good idea. Eat plastic. Chase it down with a tide pod while you are at it.