This section of Biosphere 2 will enclose a long-term hillslope experiment on how water moves over complex landscapes. The experiment is designed to answer fundamental questions in hydrology and chemistry. (Joe Martinez, University of Arizona)
The Intensive Agriculture Biome at Biosphere 2, circa 1990. (Lori Stiles)
The University of Arizona's Biosphere 2 has expanded its daily public tours just as the facility begins its busy touring season.
"Biosphere 2 visitors take 'under the glass' tours where they can see and smell the only rain forest in the desert," Biosphere 2 Director Travis Huxman said. Tours also pass through Biosphere 2's desert and savanna, and near a marsh and a million-gallon saltwater ocean.
And those aren't even the new attractions.
"Visitors can now explore more of this one-of-a-kind facility, and learn more about the science that goes on here," Huxman said, "and that's exciting."
The new tours include several new multimedia displays, the vast basement "technosphere" that features a giant floating-lung mechanism among other life-support machines, and a section inside the dome that is about to be radically overhauled to construct a long-term hillslope experiment.
The visitor center's new 13-minute video "is a wonderful complement to the tour experience because it clearly explains important ways scientists are using this facility," said Matt Adamson, Biosphere 2 program coordinator for outreach and education.
"Biosphere 2 is an irreplaceable, unique facility for conducting experiments that are close to real-world scale. Water is the main focus of research. And this place has a fascinating history of human enclosure experiments in the early 1990s. The introductory video tells the story so tour guides can spend more time talking about cutting-edge research under way right now," Adamson said.
The Public Broadcasting System's award-winning series "Journey to Planet Earth" is now shown on large screen in the human habitat building. Visitors can watch the program about the current state of the global environment, which is directly relevant to Biosphere 2 research, Adamson said.
Scientists are about to begin construction of a new, long-term experiment in a huge section of the dome, formerly called the Intensive Agriculture Biome, where Biospherians of the early 1990s grew their food crops. UA researchers will begin hauling dirt to create identical hillslopes they will use in a long-term study of how water moves over complex landscapes. The experiment is designed to answer fundamental questions in hydrology and biochemistry.
One highlight of the technosphere is the giant lung, one of two structures that allowed air to expand and contract during the human experiment so the glass dome, which was sealed, remained intact.
"While the lungs no longer operate as originally designed, we still artificially 'float' the south lung to give visitors a sense of how they worked. It's awe-inspiring to see," Adamson said.
Tours are available seven days a week during visitor hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Biosphere 2 is closed on Christmas Day. Some tour areas are occasionally closed because of ongoing research.
Admission costs $20 for adults, $13 for children ages 6 and older, and is free for children 5 and younger. Strollers and wheelchairs cannot be accommodated on the tour trails within the dome because the facility is structured for active research.
For more information when planning a visit, call 520-838-6200, or check www.b2science.org.
Biosphere 2 is located on Oracle Road (Highway 77) at milepost 96.5.
Matt Adamson
520-838-6137