Greedy Microbes in the Dirt Infographic
Chapter 1

The glass bubble that ran out of breath

Chapter 2

Ancient secrets of the three sisters

Chapter 3

The town of forty-five trash bins

Chapter 4

Surviving on cosmic drops

YOUR GOAL

Master of The survival guide for a self-sustaining planet

Ch 1 · The glass bubble that ran out of breath
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007skaty An invisible gas leak drains the oxygen inside Biosphere 2.

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The structures we build to protect life can silently deplete what sustains it.

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007skaty Biosphere 2 tested human survival inside a sealed artificial ecosystem.

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The greedy microbes in the dirt

007skaty The facility's compost and peat soil amendments triggered an explosion of microbial respiration, releasing carbon dioxide and consuming

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The invisible gas leak in the walls

007skaty Holographic neon scans reveal invisible gas escaping through the dark habitat walls.

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The glass bubble that ran out of breath
BETA

007skaty Balance plants and animals in the glass bubble to learn how closed ecosystems recycle air.

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Fun Fact

Concrete carbon trap: The concrete walls of Biosphere 2 absorbed so much carbon dioxide that they literally turned the gas into limestone.

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Glossary
biosphere (noun)
The part of the Earth's crust, waters, and atmosphere that supports life. In 1991, eight scientists entered an artificial biosphere in Arizona to test human survival in closed environments.

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Gossip

Would you volunteer for a two-year sealed biosphere mission?

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Quiz

In what month and year did the Biosphere 2 team finally have to inject outside oxygen to rescue the struggling crew?

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007skaty Concrete walls inside Biosphere 2 starved the sealed environment of oxygen

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Gossip

Which Biosphere 2 biome would you protect first?

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Quiz

What chemical reaction in Biosphere 2's concrete walls permanently trapped carbon dioxide as calcium carbonate?

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Quiz

In which US state was the sealed ecosystem experiment Biosphere 2 constructed in 1991?

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Quiz

What was the main reason plants inside the sealed Biosphere 2 dome could not keep up with the oxygen demand?

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Quiz

What mineral did the carbon dioxide turn into when it reacted with the concrete walls of Biosphere 2?

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Quiz

What organism in the Biosphere 2 soil consumed massive amounts of oxygen, disrupting the sealed dome's atmospheric balance?

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Quiz

How many biospherians entered the sealed Biosphere 2 facility for the first two-year mission in 1991?

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Quiz

During the 1991 Biosphere 2 experiment, oxygen levels inside the sealed dome dropped from 21% to what percentage after 16 months?

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