Edward Bass, an American oil giant, was very interested in scientists' idea of "copying the earth", so he hit it off and started the grand plan of "copying the earth", which later became Biosphere 2. At that time, Biosphere 2 became the most striking scientific research project after Apollo's moon landing program.
As can be seen from the name of Biosphere 2, scientists are working hard to build a second earth ecosystem. The construction plan of Biosphere 2 began in 1984, when a large number of top scientists and engineers gathered in the Arizona desert and completed the construction of Biosphere 2 in seven years.
The whole Biosphere 2 covers an area of1.2000 square meters, consisting of 80000 white painted steel beams and 6000 pieces of glass, with an internal volume of1.41.6000 cubic meters. Biosphere 2 is almost completely isolated from the outside world. It is an artificially closed ecological cycle system and the largest artificial ecosystem in the world so far.
In order to better simulate the earth's ecosystem, Biosphere 2 has built rainforests, oceans, deserts, grasslands and swamps, including more than 4,000 species of animals, more than 3,000 species of plants and 1000 species of microorganisms. In addition, Biosphere 2 also built industrial, agricultural and living areas.
In addition to strictly sealing the doors and windows, Biosphere 2 even poured 2 meters of concrete under the ground. These measures make the air tightness of Biosphere 2 very good, and the annual leakage rate does not exceed 10%. It is no exaggeration to say that Biosphere 2 is completely isolated from the world.
1991September 26th, eight scientists selected from various fields, including biologists, psychologists and doctors, entered Biosphere 2, which also announced the official start of the experimental plan.
Scientists entering Biosphere 2 should not only carry out corresponding scientific research, but also maintain the normal operation of the biosphere, including growing their own crops to get food. Although the experimental scheme is well prepared, it still ignores one point.
That is to say, the eight people who entered Biosphere 2 were all "detached" scientists. Although high-yield crop seeds and planting techniques were prepared inside Biosphere 2, only five months later, scientists began to run out of food.
Within two years, the weight of eight scientists who entered Biosphere 2 decreased to varying degrees, from 10 to 18%, and the weight of 1 male scientist decreased from 200 kg to 150 kg. It doesn't look like a scientific experiment, but it's a bit like the feeling of survival in the wilderness.
Food shortage can be solved, but the following problems seriously threaten the life safety of scientists, that is, the continuous decrease of oxygen concentration and the increase of carbon dioxide concentration in Biosphere 2.
Nine months after the experiment, the oxygen concentration of Biosphere 2 decreased from 20.5 1% to 16.95%. After 12 months, the oxygen concentration decreased to 14.50%. You know, oxygen content below 19.50% is defined as anoxic environment. In an anoxic environment, people will be very uncomfortable.
Later, scientists found that the disappearance of oxygen atoms was related to concrete with a thickness of 2 meters. It turns out that calcium hydroxide in concrete will react with carbon dioxide to produce calcium carbonate. The researchers found that the calcium carbonate content on the inner side of concrete structure is 10 times higher than that on the outer side, resulting in a large number of oxygen atoms being fixed.
In addition to the reduction of oxygen content, the concentration of carbon dioxide in Biosphere 2 is also higher than the natural ecological environment, which leads to the extinction of corals and other animals and plants. In order to ensure the safety of eight scientists, Biosphere 2, which was supposed to be completely closed, was opened 24 times in two years.
Biosphere 2, which should have been completely sealed, opened on the 24th. From this point of view, the plan of "copying the earth" can be said to have failed. Because if you are on another planet, you can't open the closed system at all. Two years later, eight scientists quit Biosphere 2.
$200 million is just a waste of water, and no one cares. So in March 1994, Biosphere 2 started the second round of experiments, but it failed after only six months. Because although the problems encountered in the first experiment were rectified, the atmospheric balance problem in the experiment was still not completely solved.
In order not to waste the value of Biosphere 2, it was later handed over to Columbia University, and now it has become a laboratory for studying the environment, so that a large project of $200 million can also exert its residual value.
The failure of the "Copy the Earth" project also sounded the alarm for us. At present, it is impossible to establish a system similar to the earth's ecosystem, so human beings must protect the earth's environment on which we live.