If the Romans had only known, they could've used chewed watermelon seeds which contain urease. Adding this catalyst greatly speeds up the volatilization reaction from 3-5 weeks to overnight,[0] eliminating the need for Roman laundries to buffer weeks worth of urine as they wait for it to turn into ammonia.
There's a reason why Roman laundries were required, by law, to be located outside of the cities...
But is there enough demand for this to make it economical? I would guess the cost of material would be a very small percentage of the cost pf operations that use hydroxyapatite.
This is an interesting paper. I had read about recycling cow urine in dairies[1] and I wonder if the yeast would be able to make hydroxypatite out of it. At the time I came across this paper I was looking at people creating financial incentives to produce ammonia (and ammonium nitrate) at scale for farming. We import a bunch of it[2] and making it locally would be a win/win.
Finally, a way to turn urine into bones. I’ve been saying “we need to find a way to turn urine into bones” for years and people told me that it couldn’t be done
Great channel. Quite a shame to hear about Cody's burnout after constant issues getting paid by YouTube, and apparently dating problems with the stigma associated with "youtuber."
Urine has historically been used to create gunpowder.
The Romans used urine as laundry detergent.
If the Romans had only known, they could've used chewed watermelon seeds which contain urease. Adding this catalyst greatly speeds up the volatilization reaction from 3-5 weeks to overnight,[0] eliminating the need for Roman laundries to buffer weeks worth of urine as they wait for it to turn into ammonia.
There's a reason why Roman laundries were required, by law, to be located outside of the cities...
[0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165299_Citrullus...
Cool
But is there enough demand for this to make it economical? I would guess the cost of material would be a very small percentage of the cost pf operations that use hydroxyapatite.
This is an interesting paper. I had read about recycling cow urine in dairies[1] and I wonder if the yeast would be able to make hydroxypatite out of it. At the time I came across this paper I was looking at people creating financial incentives to produce ammonia (and ammonium nitrate) at scale for farming. We import a bunch of it[2] and making it locally would be a win/win.
[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B97801...
[2] https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/USA/yea...
Finally, a way to turn urine into bones. I’ve been saying “we need to find a way to turn urine into bones” for years and people told me that it couldn’t be done
Check out the Rich Earth Institute in Vermont. They're doing cool experimentation and research.
https://richearthinstitute.org/
Not the first time that urine has been used as a raw material at scale
https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/whats-on/arts-and-entertainm...
Also check out the CodysLab version of biological urine reuse (aka the giant aquarium filter):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhYW0QVS408
Great channel. Quite a shame to hear about Cody's burnout after constant issues getting paid by YouTube, and apparently dating problems with the stigma associated with "youtuber."
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-59416-8#Abs1
The valuable materials are artificial bone made from hydroxyapatite produced by yeast, used in bone surgery and dentistry.
Now imagine how big the market would be if people could actually get cosmetic dental work covered under insurance
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