European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Living in an artificial world the Crew biosphere 2. Located near Oracle ariz., will be Home to eight people beginning thursday. Life in a Glass House 8 people embark on 2-year Experiment the Crew includes from left Abigail ailing Linda Leigh Jane Poynter Taber Mccallum or. Roy Walford Mark Van Thill and Sally Silverstone. Not pictured is Mark Nelson. By Arthur h. Rotstein the associated press it s been called everything from a Neo Noah Sark to a Mars Colony prototype and its been criticized As science fiction staged by cult theater performers and As a Quot scientific when biosphere 2�?Ts steel airlocks Clang shut this week eight people will embark on an intriguing otherworldly adventure life inside an ecologically Independent Glass House. The eight Quot biospheric is Quot a four men and four women ranging from a 67-year-old gerontologist to a 27-year-old systems analyst a will spend the next two years sealed inside a 21/4-acre compound covered by a double laminated Glass and enamelled steel geodesic Frame. Their goal to Shepherd a fragile mix of plants and animals into an environmental balance in an experimental world that recycles air water food and wastes. And what of the Prospect of spending two years in the contraption Quot i would t want to be anywhere else Quot said Crew member Jane Poynter 29, of Surrey England. Proponents say biosphere 2 a financed at costs that could approach $150 million by Texas entrepreneur Edward p. Bass a can help Zero in on using natural i sources properly addressing such problems As air pollution and waste recycling. They also make no Bones about it being first a business venture some 50 design patents have been requested Quot let s get this straight Quot said Margie Augustine president and Chiet executive officer of space biosphere ventures the project s Developer. Quot we re a business no. 1. We Are not a big time science but aspects of the project Are devoted to research and technological development including the advancement of space life systems Augustine said. And like the space program the project could produce technology with Quot tremendous financial possibilities Quot she said. On thursday a after a 10-month delay forced by construction problems a the eight biospheric is will begin inhabiting the geodesic Frame which is the size of three football Fields and designed to last 100 years located on a ranch just North of Tucson. share the space with 3,800 species a from wheat to banana Trees butterflies to goats and fish to hummingbirds a living inter Dependently in an ecosystem comprising Ocean desert rain Forest marshes Savannah farm and human habitats. Biosphere 2�?Ts main compound will include a Well appointed four Story habitat consisting of two level living quarters labs an office a teleconference Center workshops a clinic a Library recreational and exercise facilities and a spacious Central Kitchen. Biosphere staff contractors and workers Laboured More than four years to fashion the futuristic compound named in Honor of biosphere 1 a the Earth. They trekked far to gather the Flora and Fauna for the ecological smorgasbord of interconnected climactic zones or to the Amazon for exotics to populate the rain Forest the Everglades for Marsh matter the Bahamas and the Yucatan Peninsula for Coral reef. The latter required police escorts across Mexico for specially built trucks with internal lights algae scrubbers and mini tidal flow systems. Tanker trucks hauled 100,000 Gallons of Pacific Ocean water from Southern California to form the starter mix for the million gallon Ocean the remainder was a created using local water and sea salts. Among the traits shared by the eight biospheric is is the belief that what other people might View As two years of imprisonment will be fun. When named to the team last year botanist Linda Leigh now 39, said Quot i m elated a As in a sure the other biospheric is Are a to be Given the Opportunity to carry on the work in be been doing for the last five the oldest Crew member or. Roy Walford said biosphere 2 would be an Ideal world in Many respects. Walford a nutritionist said he and his compatriots will have the Best diet in history Quot largely vegetarian with 51 varied crops and you won t have after two years inside he said Quot ill probably step out and say pee Yew it stinks out Here Quot barring severe medical emergencies their Only links to the outside world will be via telecommunications equipment Abigail ailing 31, the Crew s Marine specialist asked continued on Page 1b from wire reports the co captains of biosphere 2 Are Sally Silverstone of Walthamstow England and Mark Van Thill of Antwerp Belgium. Silverstone 36, has a Bachelor s degree in applied social studies from Sheffield polytechnic College. She has worked in drought Relief and agricultural systems in Bihar India and managed a London Hostel for mentally handicapped adults. She has been in charge of biosphere 2 s financial administration and Cost control and will be in charge of Day to Day activities. Van Thill 30, has a diploma in mechanics and tool and die making from the Don Bosco technical Institute in Belgium. He has previously worked As a Petroleum refinery production assistant and As ships Engineer and Mechanic on re Heraclitus a research vessel funded by Edward Bass who funded the biosphere project. He will be in charge of technical systems in biosphere 2. He plans to take As much of his music Library into biosphere 2 As he can. Their fellow Crew members Are Abigail ailing 31, of new York. Ailing holds a bachelors degree in biology from Middlebury College and a masters from the Yale University school of forestry and environmental studies. She has researched whales dolphins and and porpoises in Canada sri Lanka and Nepal. She coordinated the design species selection and collections for biosphere 2�?Ts Ocean and marshes. Linda Leigh 39, a Wisconsin native. Leigh holds a Bachelor s degree in botany and Field ecology from Evergreen state College in Washington state and did graduate work at the University of Arizona. She was a botanist on a National science foundation project to replant native grasses in midwestern Prairies. Leigh was responsible for coordinating planning of the biosphere s land sections and was in charge of collecting storing propagating and transferring More than 2,000 Plant species. She will be taking in some of the woodwinds that she plays and perhaps the Soprano sax she has been meaning to learn. Taber Mccallum 27, a native of Albuquerque . Mccallum has previously worked on re Heraclitus and will be responsible for coordinating and operating biosphere 2�?Ts electronic water air soil and tissue analysis Laboratory. Mccallum worked on a Marine ecological expedition and took special courses in health care training at Urcla and the University of Arizona and has received other specialized training in Ion chromatography and mass spectrometry. He will take in his cello synthesizer and Kanga Drums. Mark Nelson 44, of new York. Nelson is a graduate of Dartmouth College who majored in philosophy and minored in agronomy. He is chairman and chief executive officer of the Institute for eco Technics the London think tank also financed by Texas entrepreneur Edward p. Bass. He will be responsible for the animal fodder systems coordinating reports and transferring data with the Mission control outside the biosphere. Jane Poynter 29, of Surrey England. Poynter has a background in ecological management. She participated in Marine Coral reef collections for biosphere 2, As Well As in the projects insect program development and will manage the intensive agriculture systems. She plays flute and Balalaika and has been a science fiction Buff since Reading Isaac Asimov and Arthur c. Clarke at age 7. Or. Roy Walford 67, a native of san Diego Walford the Only physician served As biomedical consultant to the project. He has espoused a controversial theory that a Low calorie High nutrition diet can help people live 120 years. A graduate of the University of Chicago medical school and a Fulbright scholar he has been a research gerontologist and nutritionist at the Urcla school of Medicine since 1966. He will be responsible for maintaining the biosphere ans health. Habitat for humans includes individual apartments with kitchenettes a recreation room a mini gym laboratories offices telecommunications links and a Library. Biosphere 2 living quarters analytic lab Airlock pm. Locker pm. Bathrooms Nev. J Utah Arizona . Oracle a j Phoenix / Tucson of a a Gulf i Mexico \ loom us 100 pm plants and animals 3,800 species of Plant and animal life and 250 species of insects farm habitat for 24,000 humans Square feet desert marshes Ocean Savannah rain Forest source space biosphere ventures. Oracle an no toilet paper no contraceptives by Curtis Rist new Day no sex please. We re biospheric is. Well of sex might be sometimes acceptable. But there Are no contraceptives. And if a woman gets pregnant within the utopian world of biosphere 2, then it s out the sealed Glass door for her. And right behind her the Man involved. How to Deal with interpersonal relationships is just one of the human factors that the designers of biosphere 2 have had to Deal with. And in the end the project is a bewildering fusion of High technology along with the sort of intensive labor and Basic lifestyle that disappeared with the Industrial revolution. The enclosed world generates its own oxygen and has its own 25-foot deep Ocean Complete with an artificial wave machine that launches a Jet of water every 11 seconds. A total of 29 air conditioners keep the inhabitants a All 3,800 species of them a from steaming alive under the Glare of the Sonoran desert Sun. Yet despite these advances the Crew inside has no toilet paper. Parisian style bidets suffice instead so that everything can be recycled. Condoms and other birth control devices too Are taboo because they can to be recycled or require contraceptive Jelly that could foul the system. Birth control pills Are out because their Impact on the women s bodies would alter the studies being done on How biosphere affects them. There Are no tampons either washable natural sponges will be used instead. In the event of a serious medical emergency the person would be evacuated from the biosphere and not returned otherwise there s a Small clinic to take care of medical problems cooking will be difficult As Well even though the Kitchen is modern before making French Fries from the in Horr Mew potatoes growing in the Garden for example tire Cook will first have to Harvest some peanuts and press them for their Oil. As a backdrop to All this no one will be allowed to enter the building for the next two years not even for vacations or the occasional visit with relatives Quot there Are several places where people can walk right up to the biosphere and look in Quot said Sally Silverstone the coca Tain of the team. Quot if someone wants to come and show off a new Niece or a new Nephew i suppose they could just come by and hold them up to the Glass Quot isolation is not part of the Experiment however. The Crew will be connected to the outside world through private Telephone lines computers and Cable television. There Are even two fax machines inside a it s really quite comfortable Quot said Silverstone speaking from the second floor loft of her private room within the so called human habitat. For the Crew Days begin at 6 a m with a tour of the ecological systems inside a the desert Savannah Marsh Ocean rain Forest and farm breakfast is at 7 30, followed by a Day of watering plants checking on the health of animals and recording changes in growth or death of the species that have been imported from around the Globe there s a two hour siesta at noon followed by More chores the work ends at 5 30, followed by dinner and then an evening of Leisure a popping a movie from the biosphere collection into the Var playing a musical instrument or working out in the gym. Quot to Tell you the truth i Don t expect to be bored Quot Silverstone said 1 the group has formed a pickup band including musicians on flute Drums and synthesizer and has developed a tradition of writing and performing plays for entertainment that they said makes Lor easy companionship. Quot eight is a kind of Nice number a d Mur Mima 4-1 who was born in Brooklyn n y Quot As Ilia to Jot a you an have arguments with three people and id la on speaking terms with the other four Page 14 the stars and stripes wednesday september 25, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 15
