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Biosphere II funding and research cut back

Posted by Hemos on from the pulling-back-out-of-it dept.

perfessor multigeek writes "Columbia U. is starting to pull out of Biosphere II. According to the New York Times (reg req. blah, blah) Columbia, under a new, more "pragmatic" leadership, disappointed with the science coming out, and short of cash with the stock market drop, is starting to pull funding and academic programs from Biosphere. Funny, none of the current articles even mention the original purpose, just this past week made more crucial, of preparing for building a synthetic biome in space or on Mars. Arrgh!"

1 of 20 comments (clear)

  1. Urban geek myth... by Eneff · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I just happened to be out at Biosphere 2 last a week and a half ago...

    On the tour, the guide was Emphatic about the original intent of the Biosphere being to observe the effects of the system, denying that it was ever to even be self-sufficient (a misnomer, as is a closed system... the rationale is that the Earth isn't a closed system, so why should this be?)

    So, according to the official PR, Other planets were never a goal.

    As for the science that's going on right now, they're studying the effects of various levels of carbon dioxide on photosynthesis right now... there are only 3 other experiments going on due to a lack of funding.

    The science might be more valuable in finding out what's going to happen (if/as) global warming starts.