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All the United States Arizona Oracle Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2

A reproduction of earth's many biomes.

Oracle, Arizona

Added By
Tre
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CAPTION
A view of the Biosphere’s million-gallon “ocean”   Brook Wilensky-Lanford
The living quarters of the crew.   http://www.flickr.com/photos/arancidamoeba...
Tropical Area of Biosphere 2   http://www.flickr.com/photos/arancidamoeba...
Mission Control   Brook Wilensky-Lanford
Biosphere 2, 2/14/2019   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
  bethebush / Atlas Obscura User
Biosphere 2 From Above   bethebush / Atlas Obscura User
Biosphere 2   http://www.cgpgrey.com/
Biosphere   mike_nelson
cgpgrey   cgpgrey
Biosphere   http://www.cgpgrey.com/
Biosphere 2   http://www.cgpgrey.com/
The old airlock   Brook Wilensky-Lanford
Inside the Biosphere   sisyphus47
Biosphere   treegrow
cgpgrey   cgpgrey
Inside the Biosphere   warrenlynn
Biosphere 2   dlbezaire
Biosphere 2   warrenlynn
Exterior of Biosphere 2.   WhiskeyBristles / Atlas Obscura User
  bethebush / Atlas Obscura User
Mountains in the background   dlbezaire
Biosphere 2, 2/14/2019   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
Biosphere 2, 2/14/2019   Keri Kilgo / Atlas Obscura User
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About

With dreams of colonizing Mars, Ed Bass, a multi-millionaire Texas oilman, funded the building of Biosphere 2 in the middle of the Arizona desert. (Planet Earth is Biosphere 1.) The 3.15-acre sealed glass house is a dazzling attempt to completely recreate the conditions and environment of Earth including a rain forest, desert, marsh, and a mini-ocean.

In September 1991, seven crew members walked into Biosphere 2, which was sealed behind them. They were charged with the task of growing their own food and conducting environmental experiments while sealed for two years inside the complex.

What started as a science experiment turned into a psychological experiment. The body masses of the scientists fell over time, as did the biosphere's oxygen levels. "Confined environment psychology" set in. Crew members grew to despise each other and found conflict in even the smallest decisions. The media and scientific community criticized the two-year, $150-million-dollar experiment, calling it "tamper-prone" and a "stunt."

The crew stayed in Biosphere 2 for the full two years, but when they emerged, their experiment was largely dismissed as a scientific failure. It was, from a monetary perspective, a total disaster. Despite this discouraging news, a second crew entered in April of 1994 and exited prematurely in September of the same year as the management of Biosphere 2 dissolved. Both the high idealism of its founding and the ignominy of its abandonment call to mind the Garden of Eden.

Unused for many years, the facility was bought by the University of Arizona in 2007 and is now the home of many university experiments and educational programs. Visitors can now take a tour of the now non-sealed biosphere and learn about the over 3,500 exotic species growing in the dome, as well as the experiments currently taking place in it - none of which involve living inside the dome.

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Instruments Of Science Outsider Architecture

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Tre

Edited By

raymondwinn1941, stephenmorris42, WhiskeyBristles, Keri Kilgo...

  • raymondwinn1941
  • stephenmorris42
  • WhiskeyBristles
  • Keri Kilgo
  • bethebush
  • slimpickns

Published

January 14, 2010

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Sources
  • Biosphere 2 Official Site
  • http://www.b2science.org
  • Biosphere 2 Not Such a Bust - Wired Magazine
  • http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/04/biospheresci/
  • BIOSPHERE
  • http://www.biology.ed.ac.uk/research/groups/jdeacon/biosphere/biosph.htm
  • Biosphere 2 - Infoplease
  • http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0807629.html
  • The Human Experiment: Two Years and Twenty Minutes Inside Biosphere 2 by Jane Poynter
  • https://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/30/us/visit-to-a-tiny-planet-within-glass-walls-five-climates-and-3800-species.html?scp=3&sq=%22Edward%20Perry%20Bass%22&st=cse
Biosphere 2
Biosphere Rd.
Oracle, Arizona, 85739
United States
32.579817, -110.850678
Visit Website
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