31–40 of 145 posts
I 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.
So it has had water and presumably some atmosphere was exchanged when it was watered in 1972, 40 years ago. The title is somewhat misleading but 40 years is still a long time. The stopper doesn't look like its particularly well fastened and could potentially pop up and allow leaks. Impressive but without closer inspection it looks like a slightly flawed execution to me. Maybe I'm just being pedantic. A picture of the…
I 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.
From a related article: "But the eco-system also uses cellular respiration to break down decaying material shed by the plant. In this part of the process, bacteria inside the soil of the bottle garden absorbs the plant's waste oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide which the growing plant can reuse."
My first thought was also, "Where does the CO2 come from?"
I suspect this is a very fine balance - if you're off by just a little, one or the other would die. There's not much room for error in a jar.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
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?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Hmm. So over time the soil mass will decrease into nothing as the plant expands?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
A clear balloon containing an ecosystem would heat up due to the greenhouse effect. If it's sufficiently large and allowed to slightly expand it could float freely in the air. Imagine closed gardens flying freely around the world.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Isn't it how the world worked before animals evolved? Or is there some yet another source of CO2?