Hmm can we open the bottle and test if the water is indeed from 1972? I mean how can we actually test that this guy isn't just making things up, and wasn't opening the bottle to water the ecosystem?
Wait another 40 years.
A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
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Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#22Easiest explanation: they're fibbing. Somebody opens the bottle regularly. There's no reason to take every extraordinary claim posted on the internet at face value. Next we'll see bigfoot photos?
You're assuming it's an extraordinary claim. However, it seems as though it's a claim that is grounded in science and repeatable.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#23Compare the EcoSphere: http://www.eco-sphere.com I had one; amusing, though seemed finicky about lighting.
> EcoSpheres have an average life expectancy of two years. Very interesting, I had thought they were sustainable for much longer than that. I suppose even the most tightly controlled starting conditions will lead to unpredictable results when you have organisms reproducing.
I have an Ecosphere that's around 18 years old. There are still a couple shrimp (well I'm guessing offspring of the originals) alive. It's pretty cool.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#24I can't figure out what would be providing more CO2. The container is near full of greenery; where does it get air exchange? Maybe the cork leaks just enough is all I can figure.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#25I can't figure out what would be providing more CO2. The container is near full of greenery; where does it get air exchange? Maybe the cork leaks just enough is all I can figure.
Exactly, where is the plant mass coming from? Can bacteria break soil down into carbon that the plant can use to build more leaves/stems/roots?
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#26I can't figure out what would be providing more CO2. The container is near full of greenery; where does it get air exchange? Maybe the cork leaks just enough is all I can figure.
Bacteria in the soil. One of the reasons Biosphere 2 fell apart.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
> EcoSpheres have an average life expectancy of two years. Very interesting, I had thought they were sustainable for much longer than that. I suppose even the most tightly controlled starting conditions will lead to unpredictable results when you have organisms reproducing.
I still have one. The shrimp were alive for about 2 years. Now there are other organisms... I think these are more about the incredible toughness of the shrimp involved. Their native habitat consists of rainwater puddles held in volcanic rock, so the shrimposphere is probably fairly luxurious.
Upvoted simply for the word 'shrimposphere'. Awesome.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#28I can't figure out what would be providing more CO2. The container is near full of greenery; where does it get air exchange? Maybe the cork leaks just enough is all I can figure.
Bacteria in the soil. One of the reasons Biosphere 2 fell apart.
I can't see how decaying plant matter would provide enough CO2 to keep the larger greenery healthy. Perhaps the original soil had an exceptional amount, but it would take time for it to break down; plants can empty a container such as that of CO2 in a day or so.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#29I can't figure out what would be providing more CO2. The container is near full of greenery; where does it get air exchange? Maybe the cork leaks just enough is all I can figure.
Exactly, where is the plant mass coming from? Can bacteria break soil down into carbon that the plant can use to build more leaves/stems/roots?
The Daily Fail version claims so, but that doesn't seem sufficient. Nonetheless, its clearly working. It'd be interesting to insert a probe through the cork and run a real-time analysis of the air composition.
Re: A sealed bottle garden thriving after 40 years without fresh air or water
#30The headline should read: "53-year-old Sealed Bottle Garden..."
I see this more and more even in edited publications. It's especially irksome here since the article contains almost no actual writing.