Biosphere 2 gradually transformed into a lab modeling environmental disasters

Biosphere 2 is the largest Earth science experiment ever built

The vivarium—an enclosed system including animals and plants—is sealed from below with 454 metric tons of stainless steel liner and includes an ocean habitat with more than 700,000 gallons of seawater. B2 is visited by 100,000 people yearly, including more than 10,000 K-12 students.

Before Biosphere 2, the Soviet BIOS-3 system tested semi-closed ecosystems

Built from 1965 to 1972, the habitat hosted 10 experiments with crews ranging from one to three individuals who had their air recycled by algae and grew their own wheat and vegetables. However, dried meats were routinely brought into the facility to balance crew members’ diets.

Biological terraforming studies have been conducted at Biosphere 2

The experiments involve populating barren hillslopes within the Landscape Evolution Observatory with microbes that react with air and rock to produce molecules needed by more complex organisms. Mosses and other simple plants can then grow in these spaces, gradually making them more hospitable to humans.

An artificial ‘lung’ protects the glass structures making up Biosphere 2

Although confined from much of the surrounding environment, B2 allows sunlight to enter, enabling its plants to engage in photosynthesis. Expansion chambers were built to protect the facility's integrity by managing changes in gas pressure resulting from temperature fluctuations.

As an experiment, the first B2 mission highlighted the challenges of isolated systems

Some argue that isolation from the outside world was compromised—making the experiment a failure—when a crew member was taken from Biosphere 2 for surgery and returned hours later. This position was strengthened when it was revealed that oxygen had been pumped into the facility.

As of 2025, scientists at B2 study the heat tolerance of cacao and coffee trees

The research at Biosphere 2 has led to the development of low-cost plant monitors, which can be provided to farmers worldwide to enable more precise monitoring of crops. Geodesic domes built within the ocean biome are used to investigate the best architectural structures for repopulating degraded reefs.

Exposed concrete led to oxygen depletion within Biosphere 2

Instead of being absorbed by plants through photosynthesis to produce oxygen, significant amounts of carbon dioxide were taken up by the calcium hydroxide in the concrete, trapping the oxygen in calcium carbonate and water. This concrete was sealed before the start of the second B2 mission.

A basement of mechanical systems—collectively called the technosphere—supports B2

Twenty-six underground air handlers heat, cool, filter and manage the humidity of the air across the biomes of Biosphere 2. The above-ground Energy Center complex provides continuous power to these and other systems, including heating and cooling water for laboratory experiments and personal use.

Take a series of virtual tours of Biosphere 2

The videos provide a 360-degree view of the indoor rainforest, ocean ecosystem, Landscape Evolution Observatory, and underground technosphere. A Google Maps Street View option is available to explore additional biomes, with each associated with a different floor level on the bottom right.

Biosphere 2 revealed limitations in maintaining wildlife in unfamiliar environments

Trees appeared to become weak and more prone to breaking because a lack of wind caused them to no longer need to develop stress wood. The extinction of pollinators—potentially due to an explosion in the population of longhorn crazy ants—was also unexpected.

B2 models the interactions of air, water, soil, plants and microbes at the LEO

The Landscape Evolution Observatory at Biosphere 2 examines how factors such as climate change, water flow, weathering and community development impact landscape structures comprising 500 metric tons of crushed rock. Research is also conducted at biomes representing savannas, mangroves, coastal fog deserts, oceans and rainforests.

During the first Biosphere 2 mission, crew members lost 16% of their body weight

Food and oxygen shortages drove the "Biospherians" to split into two factions—one seeking to bring in outside resources and another aiming to maintain isolation for the experiment's integrity. Psychological stress was exacerbated further by the increasing prevalence of insect pests.

A prototype greenhouse for Biosphere 2 is now part of a test habitat for Mars

The Space Analog for the Moon and Mars combines the Test Module greenhouse with a workshop, kitchen, common area, sleeping quarters, and a yard that mimics lunar and Martian surfaces. A blind crew member in SAM’s first mission, Inclusion I, helped assess accessibility in potential future space habitats.

Agrivoltaic solutions are tested in the land around the Biosphere 2 complex

The experiments involve identifying conditions needed to grow plants beneath solar panels, which protect the plants from the harsh sunlight of the Arizona desert. Research includes a citizen science component, where satellite gardens have been installed in nearby high schools.

Steve Bannon was made CEO of the company in charge of Biosphere 2 in 1994

After providing $200M to launch and upgrade B2 before its second mission, billionaire philanthropist Ed Bass appointed the future political strategist and then financial consultant to help find new investments and bring costs under control. Fearing interference from non-science experts, Biospherians from the first mission vandalized the project.

Read a firsthand account of a participant in the first Biosphere 2 mission

The first crew of “Biospherians” spent four months growing their own wheat and awaiting the ripening of tomatoes, onions, and peppers to make their own pizza. They also raised their own livestock, including chickens, pigs, and two goats named Milky Way and Stardust.

The setting of the comedy film ‘Bio-Dome’ was inspired by Biosphere 2

The film features characters played by Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin who accidentally lock themselves inside an experimental biosphere, mistaking it for a shopping mall, while searching for a bathroom. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 4%, it is considered one of the best-worst movies of all time.

China developed an artificial closed ecosystem in preparation for a future lunar base

Yuegong-1, also known as Moon Palace 1, was a Beijing facility where volunteers simulated life on a colony and conducted experiments on bioregenerative life support systems to assess their viability in an off-Earth environment. The longest experiment at the 0.04-acre facility lasted 370 days.

Wind helps trees develop resistance to collapse

Scientists at Biosphere 2 found that trees grew faster in the facility than those in the wild but collapsed more quickly when replanted outdoors. Researchers uncovered that trees build resistance when pushed and pulled due to wind stress, strengthening their foundational root systems.

Learn about historical uses of bioremediation, the oldest cleanup method on Earth

Biochemical reactions that decompose complex molecules into simpler ones have occurred on Earth for as long as life has existed and have gradually transformed the planet into a celestial body that is increasingly habitable to greater biodiversity. Along the way, modern, human-made bioremediation techniques began to take shape in Santa Maria, California, in the 1960s.

The crypto city home to biohacking experiments

The DIY nature of biohacking gives the work an entrepreneurial feel, as seen by the emergence of community labs, at-home testing kits, and corporation-backed cities that don't necessarily require government-approved testing standards. Próspera, Honduras, created by a business of the same (first) name, was born from legislation that allowed international businesses to shave off a slice of the country to establish their own micronations.

Questioning the results of life on K2-18b

An analysis of the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18b identified the presence of biosignatures—molecules that are created by living things on Earth. This discovery may indicate life exists beyond Earth, but the lack of environmental data complicates the interpretation of results.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have tested an algae-powered bioreactor that converts carbon dioxide, water, and light into oxygen and edible, protein-rich biomass.

Analyzing brownfield cleanup to explain why bioremediation aligns with environmental justice

This designation applies to sites contaminated by industrial or commercial activity and that are either underutilized or abandoned. Common in economically disadvantaged communities of color, brownfields pose risks to human health and can be costly to restore. Bioremediation can be a more affordable solution that creates in-demand employment pathways in environmental science, regenerative agriculture, and ecological restoration for community members.

The Columbia disaster contributed to the end of the Space Shuttle program and NASA's reliance on commercial partners such as SpaceX and Boeing to transport astronauts and cargo.

NASA uses extreme Earth environments to prepare for space exploration

Analog missions in volcanic terrains and craters mimic Martian and lunar environments. Crew members operating in these missions, including at sites in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawai'i, test suits and specialized space instruments under simulated conditions.

Learn how environmental conditions are optimized to increase bioremediation efficacy

Through biostimulation, Indigenous microbes are provided with moisture, nutrients, or oxygen to prevent their death and ensure optimal progression of their biochemical reactions. Bioaugmentation can introduce new microbial cultures to target specific compounds not natively found in the environment, while landfarming can spread or aerate contaminated soil to improve access to contaminants.

The Columbia disaster exposed fatal flaws in NASA's shuttle program

On Feb. 1, 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia broke apart during reentry, killing all seven astronauts aboard. The tragedy revealed long-ignored safety warnings, leading NASA to ground the shuttle fleet and overhaul its safety culture.

There's a fast fashion graveyard in Chile's Atacama Desert full of used clothing from the US, Europe, and Asia.

What revisiting a 1979 experiment reveals about ecosystem recovery after deep-sea mining

A 2023 study co-led by the National Oceanography Centre and the Natural History Museum, London, found that tracks made by the mining vehicle remained largely unchanged since 1979. Small animals, such as amoeba-like xenophyophore, were seen in the cleared areas, but sightings of larger animals known to live in the region were much rarer. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Simulating the moon's surface in the desert

And why is the next cohort headed there? The geological conditions in Flagstaff, Arizona, can easily echo those of the moon, making the area a prime spot to train astronauts. This article explains how scientists crafted these training grounds and why astronomers are drawn to the nearly century-old city.

How one professor uses 'Walden' to study climate change

Richard Primack, a biology professor at Boston University, uses observations on Walden Pond's ecology from Henry David Thoreau's book to inform his study of climate change, noting that "Walden" is one of the oldest datasets available in the United States.

The highly contaminated Chernobyl region suffers from reduced biodiversity

Although isolation and radiation have driven adaptations in some organisms, decades of radiation have caused ongoing harm to wildlife and vegetation, including population declines in birds and insects. Higher rates of deformities and tumors have also been seen compared with animals in surrounding regions.

The Mars Climate Orbiter—a $125M spacecraft designed to study Martian weather and climate—was lost because ground software used imperial units while onboard software used metric units.

Inhabiting Mars without terraforming might be accomplished with 'worldhouses'

A network of interconnected, airtight bubbles would require several orders of magnitude fewer materials than those required to re-establish the entire planet's atmosphere to resemble Earth. However, the whole network would be compromised by a single micrometeor impact that destroys the air seal.

How the US Department of Energy facilitated bioremediation with emulsified soybean oil

At sites where soil and groundwater were identified as contaminated with volatile organic compounds, scientists and engineers at the Office of Legacy Management used microbes to safely clean them up without more invasive methods, such as pump-and-treat. Treatment zones created at one location by injecting oil to help microbes spread quickly.

Explore a gallery of Bill Nye's energy-efficient home

The Southern California home is painted pale yellow and features double-pane, low-emissivity glass windows to help keep temperatures low. Solar panels are used for electricity and hot water, while Solatube domes and ducts illuminate rooms from above throughout the day, even when the sun is low in the sky.

Solutions of bioluminescent bacteria can create FOMO-inducing living art

A 2002 exhibition at Montana State University-Bozeman placed the bacteria onto petri dishes that served as macroscopic pixels to create images. Once the bacteria finished eating all the food in the sealed dishes, the light slowly faded away, ending the exhibit.

Comparing bioremediation with other treatment techniques, at three levels of complexity

Physical manipulation, such as collecting and moving contaminated material to a landfill, or chemical applications, which use strong, expensive substances and produce harmful byproducts, can be costly. While bioremediation leverages naturally occurring degradation processes that can be augmented without disrupting impacted ecosystems, these processes may be less effective in environments that bioremediation organisms are not adapted to.

The risks of bioremediation, from intermediate products to ecological disruption

A step in the series of complex biochemical reactions involved in the implemented bioremediation process may produce dangerous molecules—sometimes more toxic than the initial pollutants—that require ongoing monitoring to ensure optimal conditions for processing these intermediates toward the eventual, safe outputs. Introducing non-native nutrients or species, including GMOs, may alter existing food webs and gene pools.

The Gasbuggy Project detonated a nuclear bomb to fracture underground rock formations

Part of Project Plowshare—a program aimed at finding peaceful uses for nuclear devices—the 1967 experiment sought to extract natural gas trapped within shale in underground New Mexico. Gas radioactivity was found to be excessively high for use without expensive processing, and the project was deemed an economic failure.

How flooding the Dead Sea could help the climate

There are many dead zones in the world with low elevation and very little rainfall that provide little to no benefits to the ecosystem or climate. This digestible, thorough article explains how piping in nearby water to flood these areas could...

IBM helped turn Rio de Janeiro into a smart city before it hosted the World Cup

In response to the deadly floods and mudslides in 2010, Brazil and IBM developed a multimillion-dollar plan to modernize Rio's emergency management infrastructure. An operations center utilizes advanced weather forecasting, surveillance, and real-time data to surveil and respond to events such as severe storms more accurately.

Learn how to build your own vivarium

Creating a self-contained habitat for plants and microscopic animals requires a careful balance of organisms that maintain a cycle of water, nutrients, and other chemicals throughout. Bottlenecks in these cycles are mitigated through careful construction, such as incorporating a drainage layer to effectively manage water.

The inhabitability of the Martian environment presents significant colonization risks

Terraforming the thin atmosphere, toxic dust, extreme cold, and lack of magnetic field is infeasible, given limitations to the size of what can be sent to Mars. NASA and SpaceX are instead exploring creating underground shelters.

The origin of atmospheric science while testing nuclear weapons during the Cold War

The arms race between the US and the Soviet Union saw both countries stockpiling and detonating hundreds of bombs underground, underwater, and in the atmosphere. To better predict where nuclear fallout would travel after these tests, scientists developed models that would serve as a foundation for those used to explain atmospheric circulation.

The lab coat worn on 'Bill Nye the Science Guy' is stored in the Smithsonian

The series received substantial funding from the National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy to help fulfill requirements from the 1990 Children's Television Act to support educational children's programming. The show became the first television program to run concurrently on both public and commercial broadcast stations.

A Manhattan building doomed to collapse was saved in secret

After completing the Citicorp Center, its engineer realized that cost-cutting measures to use bolted instead of welded joints made the building vulnerable to collapse under quartering winds. For three months, crews worked in secret at night to reinforce the building under Project Serene.

Take a virtual tour of the Royal Research Ship named after David Attenborough

Operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the RRS Sir David Attenborough and its onboard tools and laboratories have investigated the biogeochemical cycles of the Southern Ocean, the stability of Greenland's ice shelves, and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. One of the ship's autonomous underwater vehicles was named Boaty McBoatface based on the results of a naming poll from the Natural Environment Research Council.

Inside the community movement behind DIY synthetic biology

Margaret Talbot spotlights the rise of DIY biology in community labs, where amateur scientists—often outside formal institutions—create everything from insulin to prosthetic prototypes. These grassroots biohackers challenge traditional science by pursuing open, accessible innovation, raising questions about credibility, ethical oversight, and acceptance by mainstream researchers.