Biosphere 2

An artificial enclosed ecosystem constructed in the late 1980s, which was intended to explore the interactions of livings systems with the environment. The structure contained 5 biomes— a rainforest, an ocean with a coral reef, mangrove wetlands, savannah grassland, fog desert—an agricultural area and human habitat. Heating and cooling water circulated through independent piping systems and passive solar input through the glass space frame panels covering most of the facility, and electrical power was supplied into Biosphere 2 from an onsite natural gas energy centre through airtight penetrations.It was intended to generate data about the viability of self-sufficiency in enclosed environments on other planets for future space exploration.

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A junior at Notre Dame in Indiana, Glynn was one of 50 college students who gathered at Biosphere 2 in the scenic Arizona desert to participate in Columbia University's "Earth Semester" an innovative four-and-a-half-month, 16-credit undergraduate program.

Class Under Glass

Originally conceived as a sealed laboratory for would-be explorers of Mars, Biosphere 2 fell into scientific disrepute when its eight original residents suffered from a lack of oxygen in their artificial atmosphere (see sidebar).

Brave new world of Biosphere 2?

Biosphere 2 was supposed to be a self-sustaining world-within-a-world, a potential model for a colony in space (see SW 9/20/91, p.

Biosphere 2: the doors open

The Biosphere 2 Center selected GE Lighting and Earth Savers, a Tucson, AZ based energy conservation company, to install the latest in energy-efficient lighting products.

GE 'Lights Up' Columbia University Biosphere 2 Center as First Step to Energy Self-Sufficiency by 2012

The Biosphere 2 Center is now a Columbia University institution,'' Harris said.

DOMED WORLD GETS NEW LEASE ON LIFE : STUDENTS ARRIVE AT BIOSPHERE 2

and his colleagues suspected that microbes in the extra rich Biosphere 2 soils were consuming oxygen faster than plants in the facility could replace the gas through photosynthesis.

Bacteria steal oxygen from Biosphere 2

The Biosphere 2 Observatory will feature a 24-inch research-grade reflecting telescope similar in design to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Building the Future of Biosphere 2; New Biosphere 2 Observatory and Student Center Open October 11

Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center was among a small group of elite institutions selected to receive this first-ever grant from the Packard Foundation's Interdisciplinary Science program.

Biosphere 2 Center Receives Major Research Grant; Interdisciplinary Approach is the Key

Columbia University has brought credibility and energy to the Biosphere 2 Center and we want to support those efforts," said Winifred Warden, president of the Martin Foundation.

Martin Foundation Awards Grants to Biosphere 2 Center; New Environmental Education Campus in the Making

Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center will host a symposium on "Chemistry and the Environment of the Biosphere" at its on-site hotel and conference center from Aug.

Biosphere 2 Hosts Symposium on Chemistry and the Environment; Molecular Chemistry and Biodiversity Highlighted

The David and Lucille Packard Foundation has awarded Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center nearly $1 million to help understand the effects of atmospheric changes on earth ecosystems.

Biosphere 2 Center Receives Major Research Grant; Interdisciplinary Approach is the Key

Biosphere 2 Center will break ground and begin construction of a new observatory.