tim@ism780c.UUCP (03/24/87)
There was an article in the Los Angeles Times (3/23/87) about the Biosphere II project ( an attempt to build a closed ecosystem that can support eight people for two years ). The article said that the first closed artificial ecosystem was made 17 years ago, and consisted of a sealed glass ball, containing shrimp, algae, and micro-organisms. The shrimp live off the algae, the algae live off the micro-organisms, and those live off the waste of the shrimp ( and, I guess, sunlight ). The article also said that there was some company that was selling these mail order, for $250. Does anyone know if these are still available? -- Tim Smith Welcome to Wackyland uucp: sdcrdcf!ism780!tim "It can happen here" Compuserve: 72257,3706 Pop: 100 nuts and a squirrel Delphi or GEnie: mnementh
beloin@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Ron Beloin) (03/26/87)
Summary:ecosystems can be bought Distribution: In article <5814@ism780c.UUCP> tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) writes: >There was an article in the Los Angeles Times (3/23/87) about >the Biosphere II project ( an attempt to build a closed ecosystem >that can support eight people for two years ). > >The article said that the first closed artificial ecosystem was >made 17 years ago, and consisted of a sealed glass ball, containing >shrimp, algae, and micro-organisms. The shrimp live off the algae, >the algae live off the micro-organisms, and those live off the waste >of the shrimp ( and, I guess, sunlight ). > >The article also said that there was some company that was selling >these mail order, for $250. Does anyone know if these are still >available? Ecosphere ($250) can be bought postpaid from: Engineering and Research Associates, Inc. 500 North Tucson Blvd., Tucson AZ 85716 There is an article about it in Whole Earth Review no.46 (May 85). from the article: "The makers of Ecospheres give general support to all non-profit, educational organizations. Write them if your organization is interested in the educational use or purchase of an Ecosphere." also, there is a one year warranty on the shrimp and algae[ :-) ] The article also mentioned the Amateur Closed Systems Network, c/o Joe Hanson, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 Does anyone know about this group? I don't have any recent info on availability. Let me know how you make out! Ron Beloin UUCP: {shasta,rochester,cmcl2,uw-beaver}!cornell!batcomputer!beloin BITNET: u2dj@cornellc Delphi:RONB WELL:lst