Project Hail Mary: A Novel
Andy Weir
Ryland explains antibiotics and antibiotic resistance to Rocky as an analogy for their Taumoeba nitrogen-resistance breeding plan: expose Taumoeba to barely-lethal nitrogen levels, breed survivors, increase nitrogen, repeat. Rocky immediately grasps the concept. The plan is working — Taumoeba are already surviving 0.01% nitrogen across 23 generations in 10 tanks. Meanwhile, Ryland is also trying to test whether he can eat Eridian food (his real food supply is nearly gone), but the spectrometer reveals Eridian food contains thallium and other heavy metals that are toxic to humans. The section ends with them spinning down the centrifuge and burning into orbit near Tau Ceti to rendezvous with the Blip-A.
- Eridian bodies are nearly pathogen-proof (seal and boil invaders); human bodies are open systems that rely on immune response and antibiotics
- Antibiotic resistance analogy used to explain the Taumoeba breeding strategy: incrementally increase nitrogen, breed survivors, repeat
- Taumoeba already up to 0.01% nitrogen tolerance after 23 generations; Tank Three (nicknamed 'she') has produced the strongest strain 9 out of 23 times
- Ryland's real food supply is almost gone; he hopes to eat Rocky's food since Erid and Earth life share the same proteins — but Eridian food contains thallium, which is lethal to humans
- Rocky has 10 precision tanks built with nitrogen control to within 1 ppm
- They spin down the centrifuge and enter orbit ~1 AU from Tau Ceti to meet the Blip-A; engines off = back to zero-g
Where you left off: They've just cut engines and achieved orbital velocity near Tau Ceti; Rocky is in the control-room bulb securing equipment as they prepare to rendezvous with the Blip-A.
- 'An Eridian body is a nearly impenetrable fortress. But a human body is more like a borderless police state.' — memorable contrast line