Anybody want a bio-dome?

[Troubleshooter]

http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/apr/stories/bios2.html

It wasn't many years ago that Biosphere 2, nestled in the foothills of Arizona's Santa Catalina Mountains about 30 miles north of Tucson, was the laughing stock of scientific research. But today, this massive complex of steel and glass rising from 250 acres of Sonoran Desert, conducts legitimate research, while dozens of students attend "Earth Semesters" and receive college credits in environmental studies. And while research and classes are ongoing, Biosphere 2 Center has become a major tourist attraction in the Tucson area.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...RGMIBD1OO1.DTL

WORLD OF WONDER
Once a harbinger of the future, Biosphere 2 might not have a future for much longer
- John Flinn, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, February 20, 2005

Oracle, Ariz. -- It was a New Age garden of Eden, hermetically sealed under glass in the Arizona desert. It was a glimpse into the far-distant future, a taste of what life might be like in a Mars colony. It was, by one estimate, one of the top 10 engineering marvels of the world.

As a social experiment, it was, unintentionally, a precursor to "Survivor, " "Big Brother" and MTV's "Real World." And it was the inspiration for one of the dumbest movies in the entire Pauly Shore oeuvre.

One thing Biosphere 2 never was was dull science. And one thing it may not be is around much longer.

http://highwayswest.com/archives/200...y_bio.htm#more

You Can Buy Biosphere 2!

Biosphere 2 Just north of Tuscon sits one of the stranger structures of the Southwest: Biosphere 2, the self-sustaining mini-city in the Sonoran Desert. B2 looks like a set from a bad 1980s' science-fiction movie, and the melodrama within its funny walls — the people locked inside tended to go crazy and turn on each other, just like on the TeeVee! — probably kept it in the news longer than necessary. (The goals of Biosphere 2 were noble: Let's see how we're going to live on the Moon or Mars or on long-distance spacecraft. The execution was a bit comical ....)

And now, after some 15 years of mechanical failures, mental collapses, scientific scorn and (eventually) some actual research of value, the tourist trap is up for sale.