Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 is an Earth systems science research facility located in Oracle, Arizona. It has been owned by theUniversity of Arizona since 2011. Its mission is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching, and lifelong learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe. It is a 3.14-acre (1.27-hectare)^[1] structure originally built to be an artificial, materially closed ecological system, or vivarium. It remains the largest closed system ever created.^[2]

The above has been copied directly from Wikipedia as I do not have the appropriate knowledge or language to explain what Biosphere 2 is. In fact, I was wondering where Biosphere 1 was and what had happened that they had to make a second one when I was enlightened by the guide that Biosphere 1 is the earth. Of course, how stupid can you be? As stupid as me when it comes to all things scientific! Jim tells me that Biosphere 2 is one of the top 50 things in the world to see. I tried to look interested, as he clearly wanted to go, but I could feel my eyes glazing over, a forced interested smile on my face and the internal sensation of panic! It must be a phobia as I experienced the same sensations when he mentioned the Pima Air and Space Museum and the Aircraft Graveyard in Tucson,  the Bradbury Science Museum in Los Alamos and the Technik Museum in Speyer. So it is not an isolated experience and there must be some name for this phobia. I wonder is there a cure.

However, I was fascinated by the experience of the scientists who were involved in the closed system experiment between 1991 and 1993. Of course there were squabbles among them and of course there would be management difficulties. Can you imagine having to live in such close proximity with no way out!

Anyway, Jim took some photos.

The rain forest

The ocean from above - we saw it from below too with some of its fish life etc.

Desert conditions - but not Sonoran desert, more like what you get in the Canaries.

Part of the workings - there are lots of workings!

One of the lungs - we went into a lung that is used to control the air pressure, I think.

 I said vhello to this gentleman who was standing downstairs when we went to see the ocean from below. He didn't answer - normally Americans are so friendly!

A photo of a picture of inside one of the lungs - much clearer than a photo could show it. The central rubber thing with the legs goes up and down depending on the air pressure. When we went out, we could see, through the glass window, it coming down because of the change in air pressure.

A photo of a picture of Biosphere 2.

And we headed back into Biosphere 1 (though we had not really left it) to see how to spend the rest of the day.