101–110 of 169 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Funny wording to use "break" for IP theft, it looks different when the British do it compared to when the Chinese do it, doesn't it?
The concept of IP didn't exist back then plus he did say the seeds were stolen.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The first experiment was hampered by them not realising the cement needed CO2 to cure, to be honest I would have halted the experiment to find out what the issue was then restarted it. Although they might not have realised this at the time, but then they weren't really testing a proper closed system. It would have been useful if they were able to test a closed system without the cement sucking up the CO2.
Isn't cement a major CO2 emitter?
So then I’m the only one who did this in elementary school, then? Soil from the yard, a couple of plant clippings, water... and seal it. I find it kind of surprising how excited the comments here are when 7 year olds around the world have done this same experiment.
Given that the terrarium guides I could find with a quick google suggest opening the vessel for gas exchange and fresh water every 4-8 weeks (depending on guide and plant type), the 2444 weeks reported here seems to be a long time.
After initial transportation failures, sealed terrariums were used by Robert Fortune to send stolen tea seedlings from China to India,[1] thus helping the British to break the nineteenth Century Chinese monopoly on tea production. [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H9J1AM2/
Did anyone try introduce an animal in such a closed system, insects for instance. Does it self sustain ?
I just don't think there is enough evidence to believe his story.
You are correct, but there is very little incentive to lie. Maybe a helpful family member watered it a few times and never mentioned it. The concept does at least work for a few years as many sources can confirm, and the story is firmly in the plausible range imho. But in typical fashion, the data is scant and maybe contradictory. The point on HN seems to be; the takeaway, arguing grammar/numbers/journalistic standar…
So then I’m the only one who did this in elementary school, then? Soil from the yard, a couple of plant clippings, water... and seal it. I find it kind of surprising how excited the comments here are when 7 year olds around the world have done this same experiment.
I think the point isn't "look new terrarium tech was just invented". I think it's "this terrarium lasted 47 year sealed". Given that the terrarium guides I could find with a quick google suggest opening the vessel for gas exchange and fresh water every 4-8 weeks (depending on guide and plant type), the 2444 weeks reported here seems to be a long time.
Honestly, it’s just a small Biosphere. I don’t really understand why you would expect one to work and the other not to.
Anybody having Tradescantia fluminensis knows that is a very easy plant to grow. It stores water in its stems so is relatively dry resistant, but it grows unlimited unless you clip it. So either there is some kind of autoprune system in the bottle, or somebody is opening the seal and clipping it. In that case there is a external source of water in the air in form of vapor.
> Did anyone try introduce an animal in such a closed system, insects for instance. Does it self sustain?
Unlikely with this species. Most animals are unable to eat it. In any case this is closer to a monoculture than to a real ecosystem between one plant and some fungus (needed to remove the dry parts and stems if we assume that there is not human intervention to clean the surplus).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might be interested in Biosphere 2 [1], a 3 acre hermetically sealed dome stucture designed to house about 8 people with an ecosystem to provide them with everything they need to survive. They didn't quite get oxygen and food production to the required level, but if you add another acre or so it should work. With renewed interest in moon and mars colonies somebody is bound to revive that line of research. 1: http…
The first experiment was hampered by them not realising the cement needed CO2 to cure, to be honest I would have halted the experiment to find out what the issue was then restarted it. Although they might not have realised this at the time, but then they weren't really testing a proper closed system. It would have been useful if they were able to test a closed system without the cement sucking up the CO2.
edit: A bit of googling led me to the Russian one and some books on the problem generally. It sounds like a great speciality but probably hard to get a gig in.
If I had a multi-decade old terrarium, I'd be darn tempted to think of sensors you could stick in there and see if there's some sort of cycle going on.