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The Almighty Buck Science

For Sale: Biosphere 2 54

Posted by timothy from the if-we-all-pitched-in-a-buck dept.
jangobongo writes "The Texas company that built and owns the Biosphere 2 Center near Tucson, AZ has put the property up for sale. Built at a cost of over $200 million, Biosphere 2 was originally used as a a self-sustaining environment for humans with eight "biospherians" sealing themselves in for two years to see if they could survive without outside intervention. The Biosphere 2 campus consists of a 3.1-acre glass terrarium and 70 other buildings on 140 acres, and includes offices, classrooms, laboratories, residential housing, and a hotel and conference center. Because it is a very expensive place to operate, the more than 85,000 visitors last year were not enough to make money on tourism alone. Potential uses for the property: a religious college, spa, golf resort or even a technology park."
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For Sale: Biosphere 2 More

For Sale: Biosphere 2

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  • Slashvertisement (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    And if you can't afford that, how about subleasing my 1-bedroom in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn for $750 a month?

  • did it ever actually work? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by oni ( 41625 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @06:38PM (#11269669) Homepage
    Did they ever actually manage to live in the thing without outside support in the form of O2 and food?

    • Re:did it ever actually work? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Shadow Wrought ( 586631 ) <shadow.wroughtNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @06:43PM (#11269720) Homepage Journal
      I don't remember if it was BioSphere I or II, but one of them had the concrete leech most of the oxygen out of the air. They eventually had to shut it down way ahead of schedule because they couldn't compensate for the lack of oxygen. Wusses. They probaboly just needed Pauly Shore [imdb.com].
      • Um...isn't Biosphere I the Earth?
        • Could be. I'm going off of memory here, but I believe that they did a small one first, and then the larger more expansive one. That being said, I think we can all agree that concrete leeching the Earth's oxygen supply would also suck;-)
          • I'm just going off memory, too. I'm sure that, back when they built it, I heard it mentioned somewhere that the "II" in the name was because they named it after the original biosphere (the Earth). Then again, I could be full of it.

            I wouldn't worry, there's an awful lot of oxygen out there...
            • I believe you are correct. I visited it a few years ago and that is what I recall them saying (that Biosphere I is earth).
              • Correct. That is the whole point of the name Biosphere II.

                It is a replica for the original biosphere, our planet. The name could have been better. Biodome or Biosphere come to mind as better names.

                It is not like people would look at it and say, "Hmmm. It is named 'Biosphere' so it must be our entire planet. Strange that it looks man made. Hmmm, if that is our entire planet, where am I standing?"

      • Not ended ahead of schedule... (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        "They eventually had to shut it down way ahead of schedule because they couldn't compensate for the lack of oxygen."

        That is an incorrect statement. There were actually two different "missions" where people were sealed in: the first from September 26, 1991, to September 26, 1993, and the second for six months in 1994. Neither mission was ended prematurely.

        They did have an oxygen problem and had to correct it by adding pure oxygen to the environment when oxygen levels dropped too low, though.
        • They did have an oxygen problem and had to correct it by adding pure oxygen to the environment when oxygen levels dropped too low, though.

          The mission was to have humans live in a sealed environment. They unsealed it. Therefore, didn't the mission end early, whether or not they claim it did?
    • Yes, mostly. Though they had problems with O2->concrete in the first trial, this was solved on a later trial as I recall. Also it is believed that they smuggled some medical supplies in at one point.

      • Re:did it ever actually work? (Score:4, Informative)

        by Somegeek ( 624100 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @11:48PM (#11272210)
        It wasn't a matter of oxygen being absorbed by concrete, it was a matter of oxygen being consumed by microbes, which gave off carbon dioxide. The researchers couldn't find excess CO2, so they didn't think that the microbes were the culprits behind the missing oxygen. It turned out that the concrete was absorbing the extra CO2 and thus hiding the evidence pointing to the microbes as the true cause of the missing oxygen.

        "microbes were using oxygen to metabolize the excess organic matter that had been added to the agricultural, savanna, and rain forest soils to encourage plant growth."

        This info comes from the following link that was included at the end of the Wikipedia article:

        http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay .html?DOC=vc2%2F2my%2Fmy2_biosphere.html [chemistry.org]

        • Interesting, Yeah what I learned of it was mostly from my environmental sciences class 9 years ago, thanks for the correction.
        • I suppose there could be two aspects to the Biosphere II experiment. One is to understand in microcosm how life allows Earth to have an atmosphere with 21 percent O2. The other is to develop a self-sustaining ecology to provide food and oxygen for a space colony or a Mars expedition.

          Nick Lane's book Oxygen argues that the Earth's oxygen is not a tightly-regulated homeostatic system -- the old saw about the Amazon being the lungs of the Earth. The oxygen in the atmosphere is the result of the small exce

        • It wasn't a matter of oxygen being absorbed by concrete [...] It turned out that the concrete was absorbing the extra CO2

          Last I heard, the "O" in "CO2" stands for oxygen.
          • Last I heard, the "O" in "CO2" stands for oxygen.

            OK, IANAC, but I will take a stab at that in case you're serious.

            Yes the O does stand for oxygen, but that doesn't matter. For example, just becuase there is oxygen in carbon dioxide doesn't mean that you can breath pure CO2 and live. Read the link I posted; the chemical reaction with the concrete only happens with CO2, not with pure O2. Concrete does not absorb O2, only CO2.

            • Yes the O does stand for oxygen, but that doesn't matter. For example, just becuase there is oxygen in carbon dioxide doesn't mean that you can breath pure CO2 and live

              We all know that. So what? When absorbed into the the O and C are incorporated into yet other compounds. It doesn't matter which form they are in, the point is that oxygen atoms are removed from the system, and no longer available for the normal oxygen cycle of the ecosystem.
  • I'm holding out for my own airship hangar.
  • "Potential uses for the property: a religious college, spa, golf resort or even a technology park."

    Falls under the category of 'religious college' perhaps, but how about a sect HQ? Hare Krishna, Scientology, Wu Manchu, The Stonecutters Lodge, etc. Funding is also not a problem. Most big sects already have enough ties with big industials, criminal syndicats and Hollywood stars to get their hands on enough money to buy the Biosphere.

    Or what about evil masterminds? Doctor Papa could finally get a pied-a-
    • I think it might just be ideal for the Railians...
    • I went to Googleand did some searches for pictures of it. Unless there are extensive underground networks carved into the bedrock under the facility, I don't see anything worthy of a headquarters that I would use. I mean, just WHERE am I going to keep the sharks? Nothing in these pictures looks even remotely laser-proof, and I don't even want to think of the mess I'll have to sweep up when the special forces attack.
    • An interesting bit of trivia; from the beginning Ed Bass and the management were accused of being part of a survivalist cult inspired by John Allen (interview) [mavericksofthemind.com], who ran a theater commune in the southwest. Alegedly, this cult was running the show along with the 'official' management; accused of caring more about colonizing mars and putting on a good show, than running a serious study. One aspect of this was in the design, that tower contained a library [biospheres.com], at the top because learning is the highest and most

  • Idea (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Rie Beam ( 632299 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @06:46PM (#11269768) Journal
    I just realized something:

    Millionaire + Self-Sustained Environment = Human Hunting Adventure

    This is gonna be fun.
  • Potential uses for the property: a religious college, spa, golf resort or even a technology park."

    Or warehousing, for life "enemy combatants" you don't have the evidence to convict [news.com.au], but can't release because they'll hate you forever for torturing them [newstandardnews.net].

    What better for that then a Biosphere literally hermetically sealed from the rest of the world. Perhaps it's even sealed tightly enough to hold in the shame Americans should feel for what's being perpetuated in their names.

    Yes, I'm proud to be an American

  • I took that tour a few years ago... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by aoasus ( 786460 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @07:16PM (#11270094) Journal
    It consisted largely of,

    Here's our failed experiment, let's walk around it.
    No you can't go in.

    But you can go in our GIFT SHOP!

    At the time I'm pretty sure there were some college still woring with (read: Funding) the folks there as there aren't too many other places like it on the planet for that kind of biological research. Maybe they ought to seal the thing up & forget about it for a few milennia. Maybe something will evolve its way out.

    • I took that tour three months ago (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @08:08PM (#11270613)
      Previously (before September 2003), Columbia University was managing Biosphere 2 and they were using it mainly for research and as a study-abroad program for students. The tourism was aspect was a sideline and you probably couldn't go inside because it would have messed up thier research and learning aspects.

      Now you can go inside on the extended tour which lasts 2-3 hours. While I was there, I got to see all the internal areas except one, the "tropical jungle" section of the terrarium, which was completely overgrown because the environment inside was so agreeable with the plants, they just grew like crazy and took over. Our tour got to see the living quarters and the research labs. We went into the terrariums to see the two food garden areas, the section with the "ocean", "savannah", "marsh", and "desert" biomes. We toured under the facility in the basement to see the mechanical aspects, power plant, water recycling, and air handlers. They also took us into one of the two "lungs" of the biosphere, which are a technological feat of engineering designed to accommodate for the expansion and contraction of the internal air as it heats up and cools down.

      I came away from the tour very impressed with all the details and a new respect of the whole project, as well as for the eight participants in the 2-year experiment.

      This was by no means a "failed experiment", rather a very large learning experiment.

      • I actually lived there! (Score:4, Interesting)

        by snooo53 ( 663796 ) * on Thursday January 06, 2005 @02:15AM (#11273034) Journal
        The parent AC has a good summary.

        I was fortunate enough to get to do research there in 2001. The place is absolutely amazing. We didn't actually live inside the Biosphere, there's a trailer/kit house village down past the lungs. The researchers there are literally from all over the globe.

        As for the areas you didn't see on the tour, there isn't much to see in the coastal desert, and all of it is visible if you walk around the outside. The agricultural biome was partitioned off into 3 managed forests, since they are not needed for food production. At the time I was there they were ramping up each to different levels of CO2 to see what effect that had (which I guess simulates what would happen if CO2 levels rose significantly on the earth).

        The tropical rainforest is sealed off from the tour areas, since that's where the bulk of the 'research' takes place. At the time, we were only allowed to go in twice to check on our experiment, which was a good thing IMO. There's a 'mountain' inside with fans at the top to help air circulate, and yes, the vegetation is very dense, so it is hard to see from the outside. I don't think any significantly sized animals live there anymore. In fact, when they had the first experiment there they had a problem with these primates (I believe they were galagos?) that would climb up the scaffolding in the rainforest biome, slip, and fall to their deaths right next to the outside windows. Of course, the PR people and the tour groups were not impressed when they would see all these dead 'monkeys' pressed up against the glass. So they had to go. I think the only larger animals that did remarkably well were in the oceans.

        The AC is right when they say this was a very large "learning experiment" rather than a failed one. Even though they had many problems, they were handled in a controlled way and accounted for in the experiment and the data they took. If anything, the problems helped them learn more, since those are the types of unexpected things colonists in space will deal with.

        This site [biospheres.com] has some good photos of the different biomes and the living/mechanical areas. If anyone has any questions or wants to know more of the 'unofficial history' let me know and I'll try to field them

  • Reality Show (Score:4, Insightful)

    by peu ( 163472 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @07:30PM (#11270241) Homepage
    It failed because reality shows didn't exist at the time.

    If done today, I'm sure its a smash hit, think of a mix of big brother + truman show.

  • Self sustaining. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Spudley ( 171066 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @07:41PM (#11270355) Homepage Journal
    If it was really self sustaining, it wouldn't be expensive to operate. :-/

  • An Idea (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Rie Beam ( 632299 ) on Wednesday January 05, 2005 @08:05PM (#11270573) Journal
    Would it be possible to convert it into a location to house fragile or endangered plants and certain animals? I mean, if they can solve that oxygen problem, that is.
    • hehe, plants don't need O2 -- we can grow weed in there!
    • An interesting idea, but that probably wouldn't be feasable. Part of the big problem with the whole experiment is the balance of species in such a small environment really didn't work out well. So if you were trying to recreate a certain biome specific to an endangered species, they'll probably end up doing worse than they would adapting in their native habitat. If you were just creating managed isolated living for certain animals, well, you might as well just build sealed containers in a regular zoo.

      T

    • Oxygen problem takes care of itself once the concrete is full cured (usually takes a few years, but then Biosphere 2 is no spring chicken...)
  • When I was at Columbia (2 years ago), they used to offer semesters in the Biosphere for astronomy and I think eco-studies. here's [columbia.edu] an article about it.

    You'd think they'd be pretty pissed given the money they've put into it. Dollars to doughnuts the University they mentioned talking to in the article is Columbia.

  • Why don't they just seal up the place with a whole bunch of stuff inside, and see what survives? That would be a pretty amazing experiement! Then, when we see something thriving, we introduce some interesting thing that feeds on it, and then see where the new equilibrium is. Maybe we'd eventually find something inside that humans can live on, and we could re-do the experiment and do it right.

    Now that the thing is built and we have time, let's not micromanage the biosphere and just let it live. I think tha

    • ..."Why don't they just seal up the place with a whole bunch of stuff inside, and see what survives?"

      The little green men have already been there and done that. So far Homo Sapiens are leading, but they have a nasty tendency to wipe themselves out. We're cheering for the dolphins, they're a 2:1 lock.
    • Instead: Send up a bunch of stuff that we're most confident about, some plants which are hardy and make a good base for a food chain.

      Don't forget to make it realistic. Nothing that survives in that environment is necessarily going to help us. First, make sure that you pump in a healthy dose of pollutants. Whatever lives (and is not toxic) under those circumstances would be helpful.

      Possible "bunch of stuff" list items to include:

      Lead bar shavings (in the water supply)

      Motor oil (also in the water suppl

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • BIOS-3 (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Following those links, I stumbled upon BIOS-3, in Siberia, which seemed an entirely more realistic attempt at finding out what it takes to make an enclosed system containing humans. Far less space, far less cost, much more rapid turnover of matter, and they report exactly what limits they're running up against. Sometimes I think the Americans should give up and just fund the Russians, who seem more practical.

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