The project is "biosphere", a paradise that has burst. Project - “biosphere”, a paradise that burst Student from the “Forester” team

- a structure simulating a closed ecological system, built by Space Biosphere Ventures and billionaire Edward Bass in the Arizona desert (USA).

The number “2” in the title is intended to emphasize that “Biosphere-1” is the Earth. There is an alternative version about the “first Biosphere” - this is the name of the American Biosphere pavilion at the Expo 67 world exhibition, at one time no less famous than the Atomium. This version is supported by the noticeable external similarity in the design of Biosphere and Biosphere-2.

The main task of Biosphere 2 was to find out whether a person could live and work in a closed environment. In the distant future, such systems may be useful both as autonomous settlements in space and in the event of extreme deterioration of living conditions on Earth.

Design

The laboratory is a network of hermetically sealed buildings with a total area of ​​1.5 hectares made of lightweight materials, divided into several independent ecosystems and covered with a glass cap that transmits about 50% of sunlight. The interior space is divided into 7 blocks, including a tropical forest, a miniature ocean with an unusual chemical composition, a desert, a savannah and a mangrove estuary. Giant "lungs" regulate internal pressure so that it matches the external one - this minimizes air leaks.

Progress of the experiment

The experiment was carried out in two stages: the first from September 26, 1991 to September 26, 1993 and the second in 1994. During the first stage, oxygen levels began to fall by 0.5% per month, which led to a situation where people were forced to live in conditions of oxygen starvation (similar conditions are observed at an altitude of 4,080 m above sea level). Since oxygen levels had dropped to such dangerous levels, the decision was made to artificially pump oxygen in from outside. The second stage was also prematurely interrupted due to organizational and financial problems.

It is believed that the drop in oxygen levels was caused by unexpected reproduction microorganisms. The crops, savannah and forest were filled with microorganisms that began to multiply and destroy the seedlings.

Life inside

Eight people (four women and four men) stayed in Biosphere 2 for about two years, maintaining contact with the outside world only through a computer. Along with them, 3,000 species of plants and animals were delivered there.

At first, the experiment went according to plan - trees, grass and shrubs grew inside the laboratory, which gave 46 species plant food, there were goat pastures, pigsties, chicken coops, fish and shrimp swam in artificial reservoirs.

It was assumed that the complex would function autonomously, since all the conditions for normal circulation of substances. Sunlight, according to scientists’ calculations, should have been enough for sufficient oxygen production by plants as a result of photosynthesis; worms and microorganisms were called upon to ensure waste processing, insects were called upon to fertilize plants, etc.

However, within a few weeks, the lives of subsistence farmers were disrupted. Microorganisms and insects began to multiply in unexpectedly large numbers, causing unexpected oxygen consumption and destruction of crops (the use of pesticides was not envisaged). The inhabitants of the project began to lose weight and suffocate. Scientists had to violate the experimental conditions and begin supplying oxygen and products inside (these facts were hidden and were later exposed). The first experiment ended in failure: people lost a lot of weight, the amount of oxygen decreased to 15% (the normal content in the atmosphere is 21%).

After the end of the experiment in 1994, a three-year restoration of the huge complex began. During this time, the sponsors abandoned the project, recognizing that the experiment did not bring the expected results. At the beginning of 1996, Biosphere-2 was transferred under the scientific supervision of B. Marino and his colleagues from Earth Observatories at Columbia University. They decided to stop the experiment and remove people from the structure, since it was unclear how to solve the problem of nutrition and maintaining a constant air composition.

In mid-1996, scientists began a new experiment, this time without the participation of people. They had to find out:

• does the yield really increase with an increase in the percentage of CO 2 and to what extent?
• what happens to excess carbon dioxide and where it accumulates;
• Is a reverse catastrophic process possible with an uncontrolled increase in carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere?

Issues found

• A huge number of microbes and insects, especially cockroaches and ants, bred in the laboratory.
• Under the glass roof of the complex, water condensed in the mornings and artificial rain poured down.
• The creators did not provide for such a phenomenon as wind: it turned out that without regular swaying, trees become fragile and break.

Sale

On January 10, 2005, the company that owns the unique complex put the laboratory up for sale.

conclusions

On one of the inner walls of the “planet” several lines written by one of the women are still preserved: “Only here we felt how dependent we were on the surrounding nature. If there are no trees, we will have nothing to breathe, if the water is polluted, we will have nothing to drink.”

At the beginning of 1990, in the American desert near Arkansas, a project was launched that had grandiose goals, to create a closed complex, completely isolated from the conditions of the outside world. That is, according to the terms of the project, it was envisaged that the participants living inside the complex would be as if on an alien planet, with an aggressive external environment.

The project was called “Biosphere-2”; the number 2 meant that the number 1 was the Earth itself. The authors of the project modeled a large-scale biosphere that occupied an area of ​​1.5 hectares. And the project, backed by billionaire Edward Bass, was built by Space Biosphere Ventures.

The Biosphere-2 project was a huge complex with greenhouses, containing about 3 thousand species of animals and plants, with an atmospheric volume of about 204 thousand m3 of air. In a large-scale project to model a closed ecosystem, 8 people took part on a voluntary basis.

The most important goal of the Biosphere-2 project was the prospect of further application in space exploration. And I remembered the somewhat forgotten Biosphere-2 project in connection with the growing interest in the exploration of Mars, and how this could happen. After all, the goal of the project was to find out whether a group of people could live and work in a closed environment.

And the plans for the project were big, because if successful, the project’s developments could be used to create autonomous settlements on distant planets of the solar system. In addition, the Biosphere-2 complex could also be used in the event of a global deterioration of the environmental situation on the Earth itself.

The structure of the Biosphere-2 complex.

Of course, the Biosphere-2 complex, built in the desert of Arizona (USA), did not have the necessary protection - if it had been built, for example, on Mars - this means protection from meteorites and asteroids. However, on Earth there was no need for this - otherwise it is a complex completely isolated from the external environment, where project participants communicated with the outside world exclusively through a computer.

The complex, located in the American desert, was a capsule-type building, hermetically sealed. Each building of this complex was a separate, independent ecosystem. Light materials were used for the construction of the buildings, with a domed glass roof allowing about 50 percent of sunlight to pass through.

For the life of four women and four men, the Biosphere-2 complex had several different biomes - desert and savannah, tropical forest and ocean with a coral reef. Naturally a residential module. The agrocenosis module, where settlers grew fruits and vegetables, and the place where goats grazed, are also participants in the project. That is, the scope of the project, you can imagine.....

The project scientists approached the species composition with special attention in order to reproduce the natural cycle of substances as thoroughly as possible. This also includes the decomposition of organic matter, including the waste of the participants in the Biosphere-2 project. However, simulating the Earth's biosphere has proven difficult for researchers.

Problems of the project “Biosphere-2”.

The problem of lack of oxygen came first. As it turned out, plants, despite careful preliminary calculations, cannot provide normal oxygen content in the project modules. Gradually, from the first weeks of the project, oxygen levels began to decline.

The project participants were subjected to oxygen starvation, the level decreased from 21% to 15% - under such conditions, the participants lived in the complex from 1991 to 1993; climbers experience similar starvation at an altitude of about 4 thousand meters. As the scientists working on the project suggested, this is due to soil microorganisms. As a result, oxygen began to be pumped into the complex from outside.

The next problem faced by participants in the closed ecosystem is the lack of food. It turned out that the area allocated for agrocenosis is too small for 8 people to feed on it. To solve the problem, it was necessary to increase the grain sowing density. And in the tropical forest, the settlers planted bananas and papaya.

And the third problem faced by participants in the artificial ecosystem “Biosphere-2” was the inability to control the growth of insect pests, the number of which was increasing. According to the terms of the project, the use of pesticides was not allowed, and the participants had to manually collect pests and, in addition, independently breed their natural enemies.

A large-scale experiment revealed that the lack of wind has a detrimental effect on trees. The lack of pressure from the wind on the tree trunk makes the wood so soft that the tree trunks break under their own weight.

The psychological factor of a small group of people living in isolation also had an impact. Firstly, one of the participants in the experiment cut off her finger, which could not be reattached, as a result of which she had to leave the project. And the situation between the voluntary settlers became so tense that they split into two camps - having difficulty enduring a joint society.

Results of the Biosphere-2 project.

As a result, a large-scale closed ecosystem project since 1996 was further carried out by scientists from Columbia University, albeit without human participation. Some buildings of the complex were even available for those wishing to view the grandiose project. However, by 2005, researchers no longer needed it, and the Biosphere-2 complex was abandoned and put up for sale.

The Biosphere project lasts 40 years.

Englishman David Latimer developed his own Biosphere project about 40 years ago. Exactly so many years ago. Taking a huge bottle, he walled up a plant in it, and established a closed ecosystem about two meters from the window; from that time on, the biosphere was not opened.

Water leaving the leaves of the plant condensed on the walls of the vessel, then spilling onto the plant. And the oxygen produced as a result of photosynthesis was absorbed by falling leaves that decomposed. The oxygen generated by the decomposition process was again absorbed by the plant, forming organic matter and oxygen. Thus, the plant did not require care, and David Latimer was able to create a closed ecosystem.

Experiments on creating closed ecological systems for the purpose of human life support (for work in space or in extreme climatic conditions on Earth, or, say, rescue in the event of a sharp deterioration in living conditions on the planet) have been and are being carried out in different countries, including ours . Probably the most spectacular and visual of them was carried out in 1991-94 in Arizona and was the first large-scale attempt to model the processes occurring in the natural ecosystems of the Earth. On an area of ​​\u200b\u200bone and a half hectares, a sealed complex of several buildings and greenhouses was built, inside of which, in addition to residential and technical premises, 5 biomes were simplified: tropical forest, ocean reef, desert, savannah and mangrove estuary, as well as an agrocenosis for growing food and livestock. All this together was supposed to work as a completely closed ecosystem (only an influx of energy was provided from the outside, but for terrestrial ecosystems it also comes from outside - from the Sun), ensuring the autonomous existence of 8 people for several years.

Photos from the construction of "Biosphere 2" are clearly reminiscent of the footage of the creation of the planet from the film "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

In total, about 3,000 species of animals and plants were enclosed in a giant greenhouse, the species composition of which was selected to best simulate the biosphere cycle of substances, including the production and decomposition of organic matter, including the natural decomposition of human waste.

To compensate for pressure drops in the complex due to changes in daily temperature, a device nicknamed “lungs” was installed in a separate dome - a huge rising and falling aluminum disk connected to the walls with a flexible rubber membrane. The compensator not so much prevented the destruction of structures with a critical difference in pressure, but rather minimized the gas exchange of Biosphere-2 with the Earth’s atmosphere through microcracks in the structure - it is almost impossible to ideally seal such a huge room, and losses (or inflow) increase with increasing pressure gradient between the external and internal environment. The total volume of the complex's atmosphere was about 204,000 cubic meters, the exchange with the earth's atmosphere per unit time was - specially measured - 30 times less than the air leak from the Space Shuttle in space.

On September 26, 1991, volunteer researchers - four men and four women - closed the hermetic doors behind them and the experiment began. Communication with the outside world was provided only through the Internet and telephone, and by looking through glass walls.

The last frame is modern, so CRT monitors are interspersed with LCD monitors. But it was made in the same dome that is visible on the KDPV.

The very first weeks of the experiment showed that recreating natural balance is not such a simple matter. Oxygen levels began to drop by about 0.5% every month. And it turned out not that the experimenters incorrectly calculated the number of “colonists”, overpopulating the station, but in the unforeseen proliferation of microorganisms - they literally filled the crops, savannah and forest, destroying seedlings and changing the ecosystem to suit themselves, regardless of human plans. By the way, humanity is already faced with the problem of microbes in space, for example on the ISS, where small bastards actively multiplying in hard-to-reach nooks and crannies even harm mechanisms, damaging polymers and organics, promoting corrosion of metals, the formation of biofilms and “blood clots” in pipelines and water regeneration systems.

The second problem was macroorganisms. Due to the fact that the food chains of the artificial ecosystems of “Biosphere-2” turned out to be incomplete and curtailed, insects and other invertebrates also began to behave not as planned, but as they pleased. For some reason, pollinators began to die out, and the number of other creatures, in the absence of natural enemies, began to grow uncontrollably, turning them from helpers into pests. At the same time, unexpected side effects were discovered - cockroaches, for example, took on the role of pollinators, but this did not help matters much: they tried to devour the crop produced with their help, also consuming precious oxygen in the process.

The situation was complicated by the fact that pesticides could not be used in the experiment - not for ethical reasons, but because the self-purification processes in such small, and even closed, ecosystems are very slow, which means that chemical poisoning of all inhabitants, including people , would be inevitable.

Water hyacinths were also used to purify water (in the foreground)

As a result, the “colonists” (although a couple of weeks after the start of the experiment there were already 7 of them - one of the participants left the project due to injury) faced not only a lack of air, but also food. It was necessary to increase the density of grain sowing, and additionally plant mangoes and papaya in the tropical forest. For fear of pests from the outside world, 40 geckos and 50 toads were delivered.

The introduction of mangoes and toads, in principle, did not contradict the conditions of the experiment - it was, so to speak, a correction of the initial calculations. But when the oxygen content dropped from 21% to 15% - as at an altitude of 4 km - the organizers of the experiment, secretly from the public, resorted to direct “cheating”: they began pumping oxygen into the complex. Geckos also did not save the situation: every day it was necessary to spend a lot of time manually collecting pests, but this did not help cope with the food crisis, and then products were added to the oxygen “from the mainland” (these facts were hidden and were exposed later).

During the experiment, other unforeseen circumstances were discovered. Some are simply interesting: for example, in the mornings it rained in the greenhouses: moisture condensed on the glass roof and fell down by the morning, as a result, some time after the start of the experiment, the “desert” became the second “savannah”.

Among the unexpected problems, it is worth noting the lack of wind: it turns out that for normal development trees need regular rocking, without it the mechanical tissues of wood are not sufficiently developed - trees also need training! Without wind, the trunks and branches of the Biosphere-2 trees became fragile and broke under their own weight.

Unlike wind, the creators provided for the factor of waves for the full functioning of the “ocean” and “estuary” - a special mechanism created the movement of water. During the experiment, the corals produced 85 daughter colonies. However, many other inhabitants of the “ocean” and other biomes have died out or decreased in number.

Quite quickly, the problem of psychological compatibility arose in full force. As a result, the team of people constantly locked in each other’s company indoors split into two opposing groups. Details have not been disclosed, but, they write, former participants in the experiment avoid meeting with members of the “opposite camp” to this day. The factor is well-known; many reality shows are based on it, but this greatly interfered with the conduct of an experiment devoted to a completely different topic. And all this happened in conditions of constant communication with the outside world, the possibility of help from a psychologist, etc. - and most of us can only guess what forms unexpectedly emerging antagonism may take in a small group in a completely autonomous colony.

As a result, on September 26, 1993, the experiment had to be interrupted. In 1994, a second attempt was made, as a result of which the sponsors abandoned the project, recognizing that the experiment did not bring the expected results, and transferred the complex to Columbia University. In 1996, they decided to stop the experiment and remove people from the structure, since they could not solve the problem of nutrition and maintaining a constant air composition. Research into the artificial biosphere continued, but without human subjects and without a strict autonomous regime. Some biomes have become accessible to excursionists, and in photographs from such excursions one can observe the current sad state of the artificial biosphere:

In 2005, "Biosphere-2" was put up for sale, and as far as I understand, it is still for sale to this day.

This experiment can be called a failure, but not without results. Of course, during its implementation and subsequent work, a lot of data was obtained that will be useful (and is already useful) in further studies of this kind. In general, we can say that the path to the creation of completely autonomous and successfully regulated ecosystems capable of ensuring the existence of, say, colonists on another planet remains a long way. However, to hell with them, with the colonists - “Biosphere-2” is one of the striking examples when investments in space technology research ultimately help improve life here on Earth.

And the second, “reverse” conclusion from this fascinating story: we will not be able to conquer space until we learn to preserve, restore and regulate the environment on Earth. We are not yet able to establish long-term autonomous settlements in orbit and other planets, and the point is not at all in funding and engine power: we do not yet have the necessary knowledge and experience to create a life-support environment. And “saving in space from an environmental disaster” is generally an oxymoron, like a round square.

Biospheres-2

In the early 90s, in the American desert of Arizona, a large-scale project was launched, called “Biosphere-2” (“Biosphere-1” is our planet Earth). This artificially created closed biosphere was the first large-scale attempt to simulate the processes occurring in the natural ecosystems of the Earth. According to the authors of the project, the results obtained during the experiment could be very useful during long space flights.
The complex of “greenhouses”, completely isolated from the environment (even atmospheric air) occupied about 1.5 hectares, the volume of the atmosphere of “Biosphere-2” was about 204 thousand m 3 of air. About 3,000 species of animals and plants, as well as 8 representatives of Homo sapiens, were “imprisoned” in a giant “greenhouse”. The intelligent inhabitants of Biosphere 2 had seven different biomes at their disposal: a tropical forest, a desert, a savannah, an ocean with a small coral reef and a mangrove estuary, an agrocenosis in which the colonists grew food (vegetables, fruits and livestock), as well as a residential block. The species composition of living organisms was selected to best simulate the biosphere cycle of substances, including the production and decomposition of organic matter, including the natural decomposition of human waste.

Artificially recreating the Earth's biosphere turned out to be not such a simple matter. The colonists faced many serious problems. One of the main problems was that the plants were unable to produce the required amount of oxygen. The oxygen content in the atmosphere of Biosphere-2 decreased from 21% to 15%, as a result it was necessary to pump in oxygen from the external environment. For two years (from 1991 to 1993), the inhabitants of the artificial biosphere lived in conditions of constant oxygen starvation (climbers experience similar oxygen starvation at an altitude of 4 km). Scientists suggest that soil microorganisms played a significant role in the increased oxygen consumption.

The second problem that people faced was the lack of food. The area of ​​the Biosphere-2 agrocenosis was not enough to provide 8 people with sufficient food. To solve this problem, it was necessary to increase the density of grain sowing, and also plant bananas and papaya in the tropical forest.

The third problem that significantly complicated the life of people in an isolated ecosystem was the uncontrolled increase in the number of insect pests. The food chains of the artificial ecosystems of Biosphere-2 turned out to be incomplete, and the number of insect pests began to grow steadily in the absence of enemies. In the conditions of Biosphere-2, isolated from the external environment, the use of insecticides to combat insect pests is unjustified, since self-purification processes in such small ecosystems are very slow, which means that chemical poisoning of all inhabitants, including people, will occur inevitably. To solve this problem, the colonists had to collect insect pests by hand, as well as breed their natural enemies.

The desert biome did not last long. In the mornings, moisture condensed on the glass roof of Biosphere 2 and fell down like artificial rain. Some time after the start of the experiment, the desert began to be overgrown with grass.

During the experiment, some problems turned out to be quite unexpected. Thus, the lack of wind had a detrimental effect on some types of woody vegetation. In the absence of wind pressure on the trunk and branches of trees, the mechanical tissues of wood turned out to be underdeveloped. As a result, tree trunks and branches became brittle and broke under their own weight.

Since 1996, Biosphere 2 was run by Columbia University, which continued further research, but without human participation. Some biomes of the research complex were accessible to excursionists. In 2005, Biosphere 2 was put up for sale.

You can see what Biosphere-2 is like in 2010 in the photos taken Noah Sheldon.

This story began in the early 90s, when a group of volunteer scientists decided to create a closed and autonomous biological system under sealed domes and live in it for 2 years. The glass modules included almost everything necessary for life: a jungle, a savannah, a swamp, and even a small ocean with a beach and a coral reef. More than 3,000 species of plants were planted. About 4 thousand different fauna were also released inside, including goats, pigs and chickens on the farm. Scientists were confident that they had all the necessary knowledge to model closed ecosystems, but it turned out that not everything is so simple...

- it was such a planet in miniature, untouched by the technical revolution, where 8 intelligent, enlightened people planned to engage in simple physical labor, gather at the same dining table, play music in their leisure hours and, finally, work for a great goal, for the benefit of science. Artificial lungs were invented for air exchange.
Only electricity was supplied from outside. But they did not take into account a number of significant circumstances and did not consider it necessary to cooperate with scientists, ecologists, chemists, and physicists, but approached the process as fun or a show.

How it all began

A great enthusiast of creating a model of a closed biosphere was Texas billionaire Ed Bass. He was also the main sponsor. The development of structures and systems took about 10 years, during which time special groups of scientists collected various species of animals and plants throughout the Earth to populate Biosphere 2, selected soil samples, carefully ensuring that everything there was biologically balanced.


The experiment itself began on September 26, 1991.

At first everything was exactly as they dreamed. The colonists enthusiastically worked in the fields of the farm, checked the operation of all systems, watched the vibrant life of the jungle, fished, sat on their small beach, and in the evenings ate a superbly prepared dinner from the freshest ingredients on the balcony overlooking the ripening harvest. Behind the green beds and glass wall of the farm, the desert and mountain range began, behind which the sun set. The colonists nicknamed this balcony the “Visionary Cafe” - from here the future seemed especially rosy. After dinner, there were philosophical discussions or impromptu jam sessions. Many took musical instruments with them, and although there were no professional musicians among them, what was produced seemed, on the wave of general enthusiasm, to be the avant-garde music of the future.




About a week later, the Biosphere's chief technician, Van Tillo, came to breakfast very excited. He announced that he had strange and unpleasant news. Daily measurements of air conditions showed that the dome designers had made mistakes in their calculations. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere gradually decreases and the percentage of carbon dioxide increases. So far this is completely unnoticeable, however, if the trend continues, in about a year existence at the station will become impossible. From that day on, the paradise life of the bionauts ended, and an intense struggle began for the air they breathed.


Firstly, it was decided to increase green biomass as intensively as possible. The colonists devoted all their free time to planting and caring for plants. Second, they ran the backup carbon dioxide absorber at full capacity, from which sediment had to be constantly scraped off. Thirdly, the ocean became an unexpected helper, where a certain amount settled, turning into acetic acid. True, the acidity of the ocean constantly increased due to this, and it was necessary to use additives to reduce it. Nothing helped. The air under the dome became increasingly rarefied.
Soon, another global problem arose before the bionauts. It turned out that a farm of 20 acres, with all modern land cultivation technologies, can provide only 80% of the colonists’ food needs. Their daily diet (the same for women and men) was 1,700 calories, which is normal for a sedentary office life, but catastrophically low for the amount of physical work that each resident of the Biosphere had to do.

One evening, Jane Poynter, in charge of the farm, admitted that she knew about a future food crisis. Several months before moving in, she calculated that the bionauts would not have enough food, but under the influence of Dr. Walford and his ideas about a healthy diet, it was decided that this shortage would only be beneficial. The doctor, by the way, was the only one who did not complain of hunger. He continued to insist on the validity of his theory: after just six months of the “starvation” diet, the bionauts’ blood condition improved significantly, cholesterol levels dropped, and metabolism improved. People lost 10 to 18 percent of their body weight and looked remarkably youthful. They smiled from behind the glass at journalists and curious tourists, pretending that nothing was happening. However, the bionauts felt worse and worse.

The summer of 1992 became especially difficult for the colonists. The rice crops were destroyed by pests, so that their diet for several months consisted almost entirely of beans, sweet potatoes and carrots. The excess beta-carotene caused their skin to turn orange.

Adding to this misfortune was a particularly strong El Niño, due to which the sky above Biosphere 2 was overcast almost all winter. This weakened the jungle's photosynthesis (and therefore the production of precious oxygen), and also reduced the already meager harvests.


The world around them was losing its beauty and harmony. In the “desert,” condensation on the ceiling caused regular rainfall, so many plants rotted. Huge five-meter trees in the jungle suddenly became fragile, some fell, breaking everything around them. (Subsequently, when studying this phenomenon, scientists came to the conclusion that its cause lay in the lack of wind under the dome, which strengthens tree trunks in nature.) The drains in the fish ponds became clogged, and there were fewer and fewer fish. It became increasingly difficult to combat the acidity of the ocean, which was causing corals to die. The fauna of the jungle and savanna was also inexorably declining. Only cockroaches and ants felt great and filled all the biological niches. The biosphere was gradually dying.

On September 26, 1993, the experiment had to be stopped when the oxygen level inside the complex reached 15%, when the norm was 21%. People came out for air. They were weakened and embittered. The biosphere turned out to be unsuitable for life.


In 2011, the complex was purchased by the University of Arizona to continue research. Nowadays, visiting schools are held there; more than 10,000 schoolchildren visit the Biosphere every year.

So what was this mysterious oxygen problem?

When scientists carefully examined the deplorable state of the ruined domes, they came to the conclusion that the cement floors played a fatal role. Oxygen reacted with cement and settled in the form of oxides on the walls. Another active consumer of oxygen is bacteria in the soil. For “Biosphere” they chose the most fertile black soil so that it would have enough natural microelements for many years, but in such soil there were a lot of microorganisms that breathe oxygen in the same way as vertebrates. Scientific journals recognized these discoveries as the main and only achievements of the Biosphere.

On one of the inner walls of the “planet” there are still several lines written by one of the women:

From the biosphere to

But this story has a continuation... Several participants in the experiment decided not to stop their search for an ideal world and, having made the necessary conclusions, left to create an eco-village on an abandoned desert site in Portugal. Now this eco-village is considered one of the most technologically advanced and successful in the world and has become a place of pilgrimage for many researchers and activists. The average annual income of the ecovillage is about 1 million euros and 60% of this income comes from educational seminars and trainings. And its name is Tamera.

Based on sources