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Paperless Future

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Tue, 2013-12-03 18:07

thebluespectre thebluespectre's picture

Paperless Future

So there's no wood in outer space. Deep space habitats probably have trees, but those are for AIR and we're not going to cut them down for things that can be made of other materials. My question is, how are various wood or paper dependent objects made without wood After Fall? I realized this while blowing my nose, and realizing that tissues would be a flagrant waste of wood in a setting where it is a scarce material.

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"Still and transfixed, the el/ ectric sheep are dreaming of your face..." -Talk Shows on Mute

Wed, 2013-12-04 03:59

Nysamu

Fabbers.

Nanofabrication can make just about anything from raw carbon, which is the basic building block of all organic matter. So, as far as I know, people just make it from raw elements.

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AGI are people, too.

Wed, 2013-12-04 05:31

thezombiekat thezombiekat's picture

You could use a nanofaber I

You could use a nanofaber I guess, paper is just CHO, very common anywhere biomorphs thrive (after all bimorphs are CHON). But Nanofabrication from base elements is an energy inefficient way of producing bulk goods with imprecise microstructural requirements. A lot of food is still grown in farms and hydroponic gardens both for food and O2. The stems of these plants could yeald cellulose for paper production. Algal atmospheric renewal systems could also produce cellulose if based on plant algae rather than the more common bacterial blue green algae

Wed, 2013-12-04 12:11

bibliophile20 bibliophile20's picture

Also, bamboo is very popular

Also, bamboo is very popular as a cellulose source, and, with proper techniques, can be used to make "oak" and "pine" products. Making paper out of the scraps left over would be a logical step.

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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote." -Benjamin Franklin

Wed, 2013-12-04 13:32

Leodiensian Leodiensian's picture

Honestly, the amount of times

Honestly, the amount of times someone new to Eclipse Phase says "What about [X]?" and the answer is "nanofabricators", I kind of want to see an FAQ where all the answers are 'nanofabbers'. Also, biomods include improved immune systems that mean getting the sniffles is less likely, as well as clean metabolisms that explicitly remove icky goopy stuff like, say, nose mucus thereby further decreasing need for face-tissues.

Sat, 2013-12-07 11:20

MephitJames MephitJames's picture

Icky Stuff and Artisan Paper

I think a combination of what people have said here is probably the case. The first answer to the paper products question is Leodiensian's point that biomods and smart materials remove much of the need for a lot of our paper products: clean metabolism means mucus is dealt with, vacuum toilets have a lot of materials in place to remove the need for toilet paper, digital media mean that people rarely need to write anything, simulspace means that when you want the experience of reading a book you don't have to have an actual book, etc. Secondly, if there is a need for some sort of paper product (honestly I can't think of one that is [i]absolutely[/i] necessary and irreplaceable), you can nanfab it out of CHO or, more efficiently, cellulose from fast-growing and low-volume species. Thirdly, if you want paper just because your a weirdo (or "traditionalist"... same difference to many) then artisan papers would likely be available using bamboo (and requiring gravity, which limits it to planets/moons, rotating O'Neill cylinders, or torus habs) using traditional methods to make small-batch products for those with disposable incomes. Of course, this process takes chemicals (which are cheap) and water and space (which are not) so there are probably new-fangled methods incorporated into the process to make it at all economical.