biosphere 2

when i first found out i was moving to tucson

i did some research.

i went to www.visittucson.org

and tried to learn all about the cool things

to do in southern arizona. 

but i quickly stopped all of my link clicking

when i saw this picture:

um. 

what is that?

biosphere 2.

it took me about 13 seconds

to realize that i wanted to see

that sucker in person.

of course, the website is very cryptic

and i couldn't find out a whole lot,

but that didn't stop my desire.

then i moved here, 

and as you drive down highway 10

you see sign after sign 

for biosphere 2.

and my tucson guidebook 

said it was:

one of the 50 must see 

"Wonders of the World".

ok, i'll bite;

it went on a popsicle stick.

until a deal came up on groupon.

and then it went on the calendar.

basically it is a giant greenhouse. 

(think pauly shore and the hit movie biodome)

and from 1991 to 1993

eight people lived in it

doing research and experiments

to better understand 

the water cycle that occurs naturally

in biosphere 1,

aka. the earth.

it is a pretty impressive sight.

it has five different ecosystems inside:

1. ocean with coral reef

 

2. mangrove wetlands

3. tropical rainforest

 

4. fog desert

5. savannah grassland

(i don't think we went to this section)

we also got to check out the basement:

and one of the lungs:

 

very cool.