The Biosphere 2 project in the Arizona desert, begun in the early 1990′s, was supposed to have been the largest functioning sealed environment ever created. But it failed almost immediately and was sold to developers who have yet to rebuild it. (One possible plan: a housing development called BioSphere Estates.) Photographer Noah Sheldon documents the falling-apart remains of the abandoned project. Addendum: the University of Arizona rents out Biosphere 2 and it is still open as a tourist destination. [%comments]
The Biosphere Bubble
TAGS: Experiments
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Actually, the Biosphere 2 has had quite a bit more history than this post indicates. Columbia University used the bubble for an undergraduate program for a bit, and currently, the dome has been granted to the University of Arizona to be used as a research facility. A variety of experiments on climate change are running at the site. Also, I think it’s important to note that the SCIENTIFIC goals of the B2 experiment, might have been accomplished by the early “Biospherians.” Sure, they didn’t stay locked in the bubble with nothing going in and nothing going out, but they did figure out quite a lot about what it takes to sustain human life in the long term without the outside resources the natural environment provides for us. I’d say declaring it a failure has more to do with how the media decided to articulate the goals than with the actual scientific outcomes of the experiment. (I also say all of this fully aware of some of the crazy cultish-ness around the early design and management of the experiment.)
Paully Shore will be crying himself to sleep on his huge pillow.
Seems like CBS could lease this for a season of Survivor: Biosphere 2.
This is absolutely not a falling-apart project, and it is not abandoned. It is a beehive of envrionmental research, having been retasked to serve as a globally unique laboratory run by The University of Arizona to study climate change and environmental sustainability. Look at its website and you’ll see this facility is very much alive, active, and on the cutting edge of life science research: http://www.b2science.org/
Someone needs to do some basic reporting before posting such an error-ridden entry. Photos are beautiful, but the story is completely wrong.
A real pity..
I agree with number 4. Usually you all are pretty spot on with your stories but this is really off base. The facility is up and running and being used as conference space and research.
In the photos there is running water, fresh paint, and working lights. The only thing I saw that was anywhere close to abandoned were some dead plants. Given that it is no longer a closed environment, and that area seems to be open to seasonal variables, dead plants are not unusual.
In fact, my uncle is actually about to perform experiments in the space now (he’s a climate change scientist). It is functioning very well under the University of Arizona and even has a museum onsite for visitors to see the site.
I see that the author of this post has failed to do a cursory google search, which would have found its website
http://www.b2science.org/
or even its Wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biosphere_2
…Or a simple email to the University of Arizona might reveal more information as well. They were very quick to issue a reply to me.