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Hi Wayne,
I've got one of these in my living room. They are technically called
'Ecospheres' and are made by a company of the same name. The actual mix of
shrimp, bacteria, and algae was developed at NASA's JPL as part of a study
on self contained environments. The ecosphere is totally closed, and
accepts only light and heat from the surroundings (like the Earth). The
life inside all live on each other's byproducts. Its very elegant. They
usually last for several years, the limiting agent being the lifespan of
the shrimp. The large shrimp rarely reproduce on their own in the spheres,
so when the last shrimp dies, you only have a few years left until the
cycle breaks down. Apparently the oldest spheres are still running at
around 18 years old. I've had mine for a year, and no shrimp have died yet.
They have quite a few sizes available, the larger they are, the longer the
system will live.
Here is the website: http://www.eco-sphere.com/
Have fun,
Sam Ley
Physical Sciences Gallery Lead
St. Louis Science Center
Wayne Watson
<sierra_mtnview@EARTHL To: [log in to unmask]
INK.NET> cc:
Sent by: Informal Subject: Biosphere -- Life Bottle
Science Education
Network
<[log in to unmask]
.LSOFT.COM>
05/04/2004 02:56 PM
Please respond to
Informal Science
Education Network
I was in the British Natural History Museum in London last week, a terrific
place by
the way, and saw a bottle with self-sustaining life in it. I think it was
called a
biosphere and was thought up by NASA. Two sizes of bottles were available.
Does
anyone know how to order these? Where would I get them in the U.S.?
--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet, Nevada
City, CA)
-- GMT-8 hr std. time, RJ Rcvr 39° 8' 0" N, 121° 1'
0" W
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