The first human settlers on Mars could live in homes made out of potatoes.
Mars settlers may live in houses made from potatoes
Scientists at the University of Manchester have created a type of Martian building material called StarCrete, which is made from a blend of potato starch, extraterrestrial dust and a pinch of salt.
The space-age material is twice as strong as ordinary concrete and is easy to produce cheaply as it relies on simple materials.
Dr. Aled Roberts, who led the research, said: "Since we will be producing starch as food for astronauts, it made sense to look at that as a binding agent rather than human blood.
"Also, current building technologies still need many years of development and require considerable energy and additional heavy processing equipment which all adds cost and complexity to a mission.
"StarCrete doesn't need any of this and so it simplifies the mission and makes it cheaper and more feasible."