Meat shower

MANILA — Since Dutch scientist Mark Post from Maastricht University created a burger using cow stem cells in a laboratory, “fake meat” startups emerged in a bid to give foodies unconventional beef, lamb, pork or chicken.

JUST company grows meat from animal cells in a California lab, while Fork & Goode does the same in New York. Future Meat Technologies plans to put up a meat growing factory in Israel.

But producing meat from cells can actually be done anywhere, even outside Earth. Israel-based startup Aleph Farms did just that by providing cow cells that a Russian cosmonaut grew into “beef steak” at the orbiting International Space Station (ISS) in September.

Aleph Farms’ goal is to sell to earthlings beef, rabbit meat and even fish tissue most likely created via a 3D printer. If production is to be done in orbit 248 miles high from the ground, the product will have to be delivered to land-based customers by dropping it from the ISS.

Production volume would definitely be so big if the meat is intended to feed billions of mouths. It will not be cost-effective to bring it daily down to Earth by spacecraft.

If the meat can just be dropped from orbit though, delivery would be easy and fast. Such mode of shipping means the meat can even arrive at the destination cooked and ready to eat.

Notwithstanding, the falling meat can produce a sideshow as burning while reentering the atmosphere may make it look like a spectacular meteor shower.