Biosphere-February 16, 2013

Today's adventure, a trip to Biosphere 2, was very scientific so I am not sure I can explain it properly. I remember when this thing was built and I thought it was a failure. Actually it was not. But they closed it down. Now it belongs to the University of Arizona and it's one of their departments. This Biosphere is where 8 people lived inside of it for 2 years with nothing from the outside world. They had little apartments and one big community kitchen. They were to perform hundreds of experiments but it took a minimum of 66 hours a week per person just to produce and cultivate and prepare their food. They could not maintain their caloric intake so they had to quit. It is back in operation but as a big huge experiment done by college students.

This is the front side of it, but only a tiny portion of the overall complex.

 

This is the interior rain forest which was the source of water for the entire Biosphere.

 

From the inside looking out. See the mountains.

 

This is a very new experiment that will measure rainfall and follow how it affects soil and plants. The black soil will be weighed and measured after the rain falls from the top metal grid.  

 

We really had to listen and think about what we heard while also walking up and down 150 steps and covering a mile and a half of the complex. I think all of our extensive walking we have done this past week helped get us ready for this physically. Nothing could have prepared our brains for how hard we had to listen. We found it completely shocking that people brought in a total of 8 kids under the age of 5 who were completely bored and uncontrollable. One family finally dropped out because their kids were going ballistic. The others hung in there but sometimes the tots sat down while we were all descending the stairs. That part was bad. Otherwise it was interesting to think people were able to live in this Biosphere for two years and be completely self-sustaining.