Arizona Ark of Noah. How experience to create a closed ecosystem "Biosphere-2" failed

What is Biosphere-2?

In the 1970s, American financier Edward Bbad, a native of a wealthy Texan family, oil, got to know John Allen – an ecologist, engineer and inventor of Biosphere-2. Allen had ideas, Bbad had money that could be spent on these ideas. In the 1980s, these ideas crystallize enough in a project that Bbad does not regret allocating 150 million dollars.

Allen plans to place 10 square kilometers of land under transparent domes, populating their plants, animals and people. Why? He wanted to check how much life is bending, if it is possible to lock it in a sealed box and if it can exist in a balanced way. In addition, Biosphère-2 could show (at least approximately) whether a person can take with him a habitual habitat for the colonization of other planets.

Construction began in 1987 in Arizona. This was complicated by the fact that window seals and other structures needed to be as tight as possible to minimize air leakage. Otherwise, the team would not be able to record changes in the density of oxygen under the dome. In total, 180 tons of air were concentrated in Biosphere 2.

As during the day, the air was warming from the sun and dilating, and at night, on the contrary, it was contracting, the engineers had to level these losses. To do this, it was decided to build huge domed diaphragms called "lungs".

At the beginning, there were about 20 tons of biombad represented by 4000 species, of which 5-20% would die simply. All this biombad was distributed between five wild biotopes (tropical forest, mini-ocean with coral reefs, mangroves, savannah, misty desert) and two other anthropogenic fields and vegetable gardens, as well as residential areas with laboratories and workshops, where the lagoons were found. man dominated. The least square was occupied by the ocean – only 450 square meters, while the fields and gardens of the eight future "bionavt" occupied an area of ​​2500 square meters. They were settled by four goats with a goat, 35 hens with three roosters, two sows and a wild boar. In the local pond lived the fish.

Under all this there were rooms with technical infrastructure, and on the outside was installed a natural gas station, which fed the entire complex. The closed ecosystem had to provide 100% of itself with water, food, fertilizer and air wastes. Calculations have shown that all this is feasible. But as it usually happens, something went wrong shortly after the beginning of the experiment

Eden Tabards?

Eight volunteers, four men and four women, entered this earthly paradise for the first time on September 26, 1991. Before them, the task was simple: do not leave earlier than in two years. Naturally, all these months, the team was bored. They had to work in the field, take care of the cattle and carry out planned experiments

– To make pizza, I had to harvest wheat and make dough. Then feed and milk the goats, then get the cheese. In Biosphère-2, it took me four months to prepare the pizza, – told one of the participants Jane Poynter's experience during the performance on TED Talks. According to her, she spent two years and 20 minutes in an isolated world.

It is true that Jane is not entirely honest here. After a little over two weeks, she cut the tip of her middle finger while working with the machine to peel the rice. A local doctor from the team tried to tie him up, but did not want to heal his finger. Jane was evacuated from paradise and sent to the medical center, where she sewed her finger in place. After seven hours, she returned to the Biosphère

. But she rarely mentions this incident. More Jane likes to say how exciting it was for the first time to breathe a truly different look, that beside her, only seven people were breathing in the world. And I have the impression of being part of the biosphere

– When I expired, my carbon dioxide fed the sweet potato that I grew. And we ate a lot of sweet potato. And this sweet potato has become a part of me. In fact, we ate so much that I got it orange. I've literally eaten the same carbon time after time.

A crack in the arch of paradise

The first of human obedience was the desert: the accumulated moisture on the top of the dome produced almost continuous rain over- above her. Corals began to die in the ocean: the water absorbed too much carbon dioxide.

Over time, the sensors and settlers themselves began to notice a drop in the level of oxygen in the local atmosphere. The content of this extremely important item for 16 months went from 21% to 14%. As the studies showed at the end of the experiment, inside Biosphere-2, there were too many cement structures that absorbed carbon dioxide and thus reduced the concentration of oxygen produced

. The famine of oxygen, of course, has hurt the health of "bionautes". Both on the physical and the mental. Jane remembers that their doctor, old enough at that time, a man, at one point was already unable to add up the numbers. Some members of the team could not finish the sentence, because they had to breathe in the middle

– You wake up, out of breath, because the composition of your blood has changed. And then you literally do this: you stop breathing, then inhale, and that wakes you up. It's very boring.

In addition, the rainforest microflora became uncontrollable, and began to grow too rapidly. Unexpected reproduction of microorganisms and insects resulted in additional oxygen consumption. Mostly they were produced in Chernozem. For the experimental fields, the best and most fertile area was chosen.

The media, who previously mentioned the experiment with skepticism, in some cases calling its participants a "cult of survival cult," claimed that the team is literally dying. All of these factors have led to the fact that management has decided to include oxygen supply to the paradise from the outside.

The Human Factor

But one of the most important reasons for the failure of the experiment was the human factor. No members of the "Biosphère-2" team have been isolated for more than two months. Only Taber McCallum has had the experience of a three year sailing trip. The discord in the team quickly divided the eight into two groups, which, according to Jane, even after so many years do not tolerate the spirit of everyone.

Each group had their own vision of how it would be better and more correct to continue the experiment. Some felt that it was necessary to unload the crew and transfer some of the scientific work to scientists outside the dome, sacrificing complete isolation, to allow the import / export of equipment and samples. Others thought that it was necessary to completely preserve the purity of the experience and to cope with their own efforts. They feared that opponents would conduct the experiment before allowing food imports, which would be a real failure of the project.

As a result of the conflicts, the team was unable to work together and move forward smoothly. People dined separately, tried not to look into each other's eyes, and spoke very seldom.

The conflicts were aggravated by a lack of oxygen and food, people became depressed, irritated. The same insects and microorganisms that devoured oxygen were detrimental to crop growth. The team was forced to switch to a low-fat and low-fat diet.

The diet preacher was, by the way, the same MD, Roy Wolffer, who was trying to sew Jane's finger. He was sure that the person's daily diet should be limited to 1500 kilocalories without fat, which would increase the life expectancy of a person to 130 years. Unfortunately, he died at the age of 79 (11 years after leaving Biosphere-2) as a result of respiratory arrest badociated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Some experts have suggested that this could be the result of a low energy intake in the scientist's body.

If Wolford was prepared for such a diet, many other participants had such an aversion to food. Constant harvests, many hours of work in the fields … the team did not leave the thought of food, and their weight melted like ice cream on the hot asphalt . Taber, of a real great man, turned into an emaciated martyr, dropping 27 kg, eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, eggs and dairy goat

. According to Poynter's recollections, some members of the team licked plates after each meal so as not to lose valuable calories.

Nevertheless, Wolford, who regularly took blood samples from all participants, found that, insulin and glucose, normalized blood pressure. But the "bionavtas" did not become happier.

In November 1992, some settlers began to eat seed stocks that were not grown inside the building. In the context of media reports about food caches, food smuggling and accusations of forgery, the scientific council of the project decided to leave it.

The public had an opinion on "Biosphère-2" as an Olympic sport How long will they last without opening the door?), And not as a scientific experiment, a theory developed on the model, gradually making changes. At the end of the experiment, the background around him was essentially negative

Aftertaste of the experiment

In September 1993, the doors of Biosphere-2 were open. And they freed the exhausted settlers from there. Here is what he says of the moment to get rid of Jane Poynter:

– I would say we all went out a little crazy. I was excited to see all my family and friends. For two years, I saw people through the glbad. And then everyone ran to me. And I moved back. They stank! People stinks! We stink with lacquer and deodorant, and all this nonsense.

In 1994, the second mission of the "bionautes" began. Already in a different composition. The concrete was carefully sealed and prepared to spend 10 months in confinement. But initially, two of the former team members, who had been fired, broke into the dome in protest, opened several escape routes, violating oppression for 15 minutes. In addition, five glbades were broken. The commanders of the new team left the dome one by one, and in June 1994 the sponsors abandoned the project and finished financing.

Despite all the millions of dollars, roomy locals and the best black earth, the first mission at Biosphere-2 can be considered a failure. . People could not get a steady flow of oxygen into their dome, and permanent crop failures and pest blooms literally put them on the brink of survival. In addition, these eight settlers demonstrated that the man is one of the weakest links of such isolation.

"Biosphere-2" is still in the desert of Arizona. Now it is rather a botanical garden under the dome, which belongs to the state university. There are experiments, but not so much on a large scale. Constantly there are excursions for schoolchildren and tourists. One of the attractions that are displayed during the excursions is the inscription left by the ancient "bionaut": "Only here we felt how much depended on the surrounding nature. There are no trees – we will have nothing to breathe, if the water gets dirty – we will have nothing to drink. "

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