The breathing bubble - (1)
The biosphere we live in is tired of us. It is on the verge of tolerance and has already started to show its ominous reactions to our self-destructive actions. So, we humans are looking for backups, may be some other places in the universe if this blue planet decides not to sustain us anymore. We look for habitable exoplanets or atleast think about the inhabitable Luna or Mars to terraform into suitable future refuge for the human race.
To carry out research on the human sustenance in closed, self replenishing ecosystems, a research facility was established in Tuscon, Arizona in between 1987 and 1991. Since this facility sits on the Earth, the first biosphere, it was innovatively named Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 has replicated five key biomes of the world inside it, with more or less success. It harbors a large, green house enclosed tropical rainforest, a small sea, desert, mangrove forest and a savannah grassland. It also has a human habitat and three artificial mountain slopes. Although several initial research attempts on human sustainibility in a closed system like Biosphere 2 has been deemed unsuccessful and were mared with criticism, they point out critical gaps in our knowledge about 'living on our own' in a new planet or biosphere. Simply put, we are not ready yet to leave the Earth in search of a new habitat if a catastrophe happens in recent years.
I was in Biosphere 2 from January 7 to January 12 to attend the "Environmental Virology Workshop 2013" organized by the University of Arizona and the Gordon Betty Moore Foundation. The workshop was pretty intensive, with only a two hour gap during the lunch time and half an hour breaks in between every session. So, I decided to carry only the Fujifilm X100 with a 35mm fixed lens.
Sitting right inside the desert, Biosphere 2 is a unique idea realized through breathtaking architechture and ecological niches. My photos probably tell just a little part of the story, you have to be there for a few days to experience the totality of it.
The breathing bubble - (1)
The biosphere we live in is tired of us. It is on the verge of tolerance and has already started to show its ominous reactions to our self-destructive actions. So, we humans are looking for backups, may be some other places in the universe if this blue planet decides not to sustain us anymore. We look for habitable exoplanets or atleast think about the inhabitable Luna or Mars to terraform into suitable future refuge for the human race.
To carry out research on the human sustenance in closed, self replenishing ecosystems, a research facility was established in Tuscon, Arizona in between 1987 and 1991. Since this facility sits on the Earth, the first biosphere, it was innovatively named Biosphere 2. Biosphere 2 has replicated five key biomes of the world inside it, with more or less success. It harbors a large, green house enclosed tropical rainforest, a small sea, desert, mangrove forest and a savannah grassland. It also has a human habitat and three artificial mountain slopes. Although several initial research attempts on human sustainibility in a closed system like Biosphere 2 has been deemed unsuccessful and were mared with criticism, they point out critical gaps in our knowledge about 'living on our own' in a new planet or biosphere. Simply put, we are not ready yet to leave the Earth in search of a new habitat if a catastrophe happens in recent years.
I was in Biosphere 2 from January 7 to January 12 to attend the "Environmental Virology Workshop 2013" organized by the University of Arizona and the Gordon Betty Moore Foundation. The workshop was pretty intensive, with only a two hour gap during the lunch time and half an hour breaks in between every session. So, I decided to carry only the Fujifilm X100 with a 35mm fixed lens.
Sitting right inside the desert, Biosphere 2 is a unique idea realized through breathtaking architechture and ecological niches. My photos probably tell just a little part of the story, you have to be there for a few days to experience the totality of it.