Cinder Spires Setting discussion [TAW Sample Chapter SPOILERS]

[Quantus]

First question:  How exactly is Meat generated in Vats, and is anyone else picturing some sort of soylent protein slime that sounds none too appetizing?  Granted, I eat chili dogs, but still... 

[ITheHellAmFan]

I don't know, All I could think of is an episode form the Colbert Report form a couple years back where he talked about scientists trying to grow artificial meat without an actual animal, which at that time was still several years of testing away form maybe being used for sausage.  I'll try to find a link.

[knnn]

It's a pretty typical trope for (admittedly futuristic) Scifi.  Cells reproduce on their own given oxygen/water/nutrients, so as long as you can supply that you are fine.  Here, I assume it's all done with "crystals". 

Very much reminds me of Dr.  Dinonsaur.   

http://www.atomic-robo.com/atomicrobo/v4ch3-page-4

[Second Aristh]

Do we know that meat is necessarily generated with the vats?  I could see the vats being some sort of processing or preserving system.

[Quantus]

Do we know that meat is necessarily generated with the vats?  I could see the vats being some sort of processing or preserving system.

you are right, Produced might be a better word.  But it's a "vattery" so I have to assume that the vats are the primary part of the process.  Living on spires it would make sense that they cant have much in the way of traditional grazing herd animals.  But then were does the 'meat' come from?

[Second Aristh]

you are right, Produced might be a better word.  But it's a "vattery" so I have to assume that the vats are the primary part of the process.  Living on spires it would make sense that they cant have much in the way of traditional grazing herd animals.  But then were does the 'meat' come from?

Yeah, whatever the vats are for, the vats themselves have to be a major part if only based on the name.  I wouldn't assume that that role is producing the meat just yet though.  Like you said, the next question is where does the meat come from.  It seems inevitable that the Spires are pressed for space, so raising grazing animals doesn't seem likely.  Considering they sail through the air, how about "fishing" for birds?  "Whaling" for the mistmaw creature mentioned earlier might be an option as well.

[Quantus]

Yeah, whatever the vats are for, the vats themselves have to be a major part if only based on the name.  I wouldn't assume that that role is producing the meat just yet though.  Like you said, the next question is where does the meat come from.  It seems inevitable that the Spires are pressed for space, so raising grazing animals doesn't seem likely.  Considering they sail through the air, how about "fishing" for birds?  "Whaling" for the mistmaw creature mentioned earlier might be an option as well.

/nods.  Or even gathering and rendering down some sort of Cloud-krill maybe. 

So ok, lets say they get some sort of raw animal material from somewhere.  Im going with Soylent as the working name (you dont WANT to know where it comes from).  What do you all picture as the final form coming out of the Vats?  My mind first went to some equivalent of the Pink Slime that cause such a hooplah recently, but something more akin to sausage makes sense too. 

[Second Aristh]

/nods.  Or even gathering and rendering down some sort of Cloud-krill maybe. 

So ok, lets say they get some sort of raw animal material from somewhere.  Im going with Soylent as the working name (you dont WANT to know where it comes from).  What do you all picture as the final form coming out of the Vats?  My mind first went to some equivalent of the Pink Slime that cause such a hooplah recently, but something more akin to sausage makes sense too.

Yeah sausage or any of the canned style meats seems like a good guess.  I could even see the vats being used as baths to somehow neutralize whatever nasty goodies the meat might get from being out on the etheric currents.  That way you wouldn't have to grind everything to a mush.

One more thing pointing to the meat not being grown in tubs, Bridget mentions her family's knives.  You shouldn't have to butcher meat from a jar.

[Quantus]

Yeah sausage or any of the canned style meats seems like a good guess.  I could even see the vats being used as baths to somehow neutralize whatever nasty goodies the meat might get from being out on the etheric currents.  That way you wouldn't have to grind everything to a mush.

One more thing pointing to the meat not being grown in tubs, Bridget mentions her family's knives.  You shouldn't have to butcher meat from a jar.

Fair, though you could have to slice it after, especially if it's a tough consistency.  Im picturing them cubing it off like Tofu, in that case, only with more the consistency of a canned ham.   

[Second Aristh]

Fair, though you could have to slice it after, especially if it's a tough consistency.  Im picturing them cubing it off like Tofu, in that case, only with more the consistency of a canned ham.   

Also a possibility 

[Quantus]

Still not the most appetizing of things.  I mean...Tofu?   

[Second Aristh]

Still not the most appetizing of things.  I mean...Tofu?   

Idk, I've had tofu before, but never meat grown in a vat.   

[wyltok]

Here's the thing: sliced ham, chicken nuggets, imitation crab meat, those frozen pre-cooked chicken breasts with the grill marks on them... they're all what's called "restructured meat". In other words, they're chunks of meat (or sometimes not even chunks) that are glued together to form whatever shape is desired.

If you ever bite into a piece of "meat" that has no fibers in it, or really soft mini-fibers (or that happens to be shaped by a rectangle), the odds are really high that the current shape does not match the shape of the muscle the meat came from.

However, people are currently working on 3D printing meat. Once that's achieved, we should be able to replicated a proper steak, with all muscle fibers properly aligned and everything (people actually want to 3D print working organs for transplant, but that's gonna take a lot longer).

I'm guessing that's how the vattery works: you have huge vats where the different type of meat component cells are grown (a muscle fiber vat, a blood vein vat, etc) before final 3D printing and assembly into primal cuts.

Personally, I'm ok with this idea. I've never had an issue with ham, or imitation crab meat (I'm not really a fan of chicken nuggets, but that's more the breading, really). If / when we figure out how to get the texture right, should it matter where the meat originally comes from? (Assuming, of course, that there are no poisonous ingredients involved in the printing process or whatever).

[Second Aristh]

Here's the thing: sliced ham, chicken nuggets, imitation crab meat, those frozen pre-cooked chicken breasts with the grill marks on them... they're all what's called "restructured meat". In other words, they're chunks of meat (or sometimes not even chunks) that are glued together to form whatever shape is desired.

If you ever bite into a piece of "meat" that has no fibers in it, or really soft mini-fibers (or that happens to be shaped by a rectangle), the odds are really high that the current shape does not match the shape of the muscle the meat came from.

However, people are currently working on 3D printing meat. Once that's achieved, we should be able to replicated a proper steak, with all muscle fibers properly aligned and everything (people actually want to 3D print working organs for transplant, but that's gonna take a lot longer).

I'm guessing that's how the vattery works: you have huge vats where the different type of meat component cells are grown (a muscle fiber vat, a blood vein vat, etc) before final 3D printing and assembly into primal cuts.

Personally, I'm ok with this idea. I've never had an issue with ham, or imitation crab meat (I'm not really a fan of chicken nuggets, but that's more the breading, really). If / when we figure out how to get the texture right, should it matter where the meat originally comes from? (Assuming, of course, that there are no poisonous ingredients involved in the printing process or whatever).

No, I get that "printing" meat is a possible function for the vats.  I'm just reluctant to say that's the most likely function.  That kind of technology doesn't mesh well with the genre, even with handwaved crystal technology.  The setting doesn't seem to have enough scientific background to be able to handle artificial meat.

[ITheHellAmFan]

I agree.  For real science fiction that something like printing meat or replicators makes sense, but not in Steampunk.