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 Peter Menzel/ASA / ASA, Biosphere 2 Project undertaken by Space Biosphere Ventures, a private ecological research firm funded by Edward P. Bass of Texas. Biosphere scientist Mark van Thillo is spearfishing, while a tourist observes, inside the artificial ocean of the Biosphere 2 Project during construction. The Ocean biome provided a source of fish during the two-year duration Project. Water that evaporated from the surface of the ocean was condensed and filtered to provide fresh water for consumption and to replenish the freshwater stream. Biosphere 2 was a privately funded experiment, designed to investigate the way in which humans interact with a small self-sufficient ecological environment, and to look at possibilities for future planetary colonization. The $30 million Biosphere covers 2.5 acres near Tucson, Arizona, and was entirely self- contained. The eight Biospherians shared their air- and water-tight world with 3,800 species of plant and animal life. The project had problems with oxygen levels and food supply, and has been criticized over its scientific validity. 1992
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 Peter Menzel/ASA / ASA, Biosphere 2 Project undertaken by Space Biosphere Ventures, a private ecological research firm funded by Edward P. Bass of Texas. Biosphere scientists Goga Malich (right) and Taber McCallum seen after diving inside the artificial ocean of the Biosphere 2 Project during construction. The Ocean biome provided a source of fish during the two-year duration of the Project. Water that evaporated from the surface of the ocean was condensed and filtered to provide fresh water for consumption and to replenish the freshwater stream. Biosphere 2 was a privately funded experiment, designed to investigate the way in which humans interact with a small self-sufficient ecological environment, and to look at possibilities for future planetary colonization. The $30 million Biosphere covers 2.5 acres near Tucson, Arizona, and was entirely self- contained. The eight Biospherians shared their air- and water-tight world with 3,800 species of plant and animal life. The project had problems with oxygen levels and food supply, and has been criticized over its scientific validity. 1990
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 Digital Archive Japan / DAJ, Newcomen steam engine, 1737. Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) designed his atmospheric or steam engine in 1712. Water was heated in the boiler and the resulting steam was let into the cylinder, pushing up the piston. The steam was then condensed, bringing down the piston. The piston rocked the beam which worked the pump. It was safer and more effective than the earlier Savery engine and was widely used to drain water out of mines. From Architecture Hydraulique by Bernard Forest de Belidor. (Paris, 1737).
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