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A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

biologicperformance.com

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Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#161
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw a shop selling these once: https://www.ecospheres.co.uk/ . They contain small marine shrimp, and "The only care the sphere requires is a source of indirect natural or artificial light" and they "have an average life expectancy of 2-3 years however it is not uncommon for them to survive for 7 to 10 years"[0]. [0] https://www.ecospheres.co.uk/what-is-an-ecosphere/

If you read up on this, you'll find a lot of not-very-nice things said about ecospheres. The shrimp inside are ʻōpaeʻula [0] which evolved to live in volcanic tide pools filled by rainwater. Sort of a feast or famine environment where the salinity and nutrients available are very volatile. Because of that, the shrimp have evolved to handle a wide range of temperatures, salinity, and scarcity of food. The latter means…

Thanks for this. I wasn't too keen on them to be honest because they reminded me of little fleas jumping around. But it is sad to read "These shrimp are social creatures, but the Ecosphere starts with only four (often less, with one or more dead on arrival), and eventually only a single one is left to swim around alone, perhaps for years"[0]. I had assumed that they would reproduce within the ecosystem, but apparently not.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosphere_(aquarium)

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#162
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because biological growth increases the number of cells, and more cells need more water to survive than less cells.

Yes, and then what happens when they don't get more water?

In this species in particular, first the leaves die, then stems shrink until a fraction of their former diameter, then split in segments and collapse. Each segment emits roots and leaves later.

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#163
post #156

I'm sceptical about the sealed part. 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 a…

I have several terrariums and the plants self-limit when they hit the glass. I have never needed to prune or trim them. When they get too dense they start dying back from moisture issues, and it self-regulates into a pretty stable loop.

What species?

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#164

Seen this before. Simplest answer: don't believe it. That cork in the top looks new. And very, very removable. And if you still want to believe it, without evidence, then I have some property in Florida to sell you.

There's several hundred years of evidence in the real world. Millions of similar terraria have been built around the world for centuries. The real reason this one is newsworthy is because nobody knocked it off the table and shattered it in 50 years.

ooooorrrrr...they've all been opened. None of them lasted as long as they say. Because none of them are secure.

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been building terraria for centuries. You can buy all shapes and sizes in stores, some with fish. Though the fish ones probably don't last after the fish dies. Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.

>Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline. I've come to realize this is true, but why?

Gardening/farming is pretty much as far removed from the urban, heavily tech-influenced lifestyle most netizens live in as it can be.

But imho this is about to change, lots of people burning out on the rapid cycles and inherent unsustainability of living the "always online city lifestyle" and thus looking for ways to escape to something more natural in the form of gardening or even farming.

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#166

Are there any canonical guides to building a jar-rarium? Lots of crappy YouTube videos but nothing very thorough and complete.

what is your climate?

I live in Singapore. high humidity, heat year-round and little change in sunglight:per day.

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t steal something that’s not legitimately your property. IP isn’t a justified legal concept, it’s a form of illegitimate regulation used by corporations to cement monopolies and threaten the competition with legistlation

How do tangible property rights differ?

Property is physically defined, and is justified as an extension of actions (I have a right to think for myself, therefore act on my own thoughts, therefore shouldn't be interfered with. I am taking the action of "storing this object I made" (for example), so to steal it is to infringe on my action is to infringe on my right to think for myself is to infringe on my rights).

"Intellectual property" is a bad analogy to physical property, isn't justified by such a chain of reasoning, and in fact the IP enforcers are infringing on the rights of the second inventor (or in our mess of a legal system, the person who failed to file papers with the government first).

Re: A Sealed Garden That Was Watered Once in 53 Years (2017)

#169
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the soil was taken from the garden there should be hexapods within it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springtail

Hm, hexapodia as the key insight?

Is that a reference to A Fire Upon the Deep?
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