Exposed concrete led to oxygen depletion within Biosphere 2

An artificial ‘lung’ protects the glass structures making up Biosphere 2

Although confined from much of the surrounding environment, B2 allows sunlight to enter, enabling its plants to engage in photosynthesis. Expansion chambers were built to protect the facility's integrity by managing changes in gas pressure resulting from temperature fluctuations.

As an experiment, the first B2 mission highlighted the challenges of isolated systems

Some argue that isolation from the outside world was compromised—making the experiment a failure—when a crew member was taken from Biosphere 2 for surgery and returned hours later. This position was strengthened when it was revealed that oxygen had been pumped into the facility.

Biosphere 2 gradually transformed into a lab modeling environmental disasters

Built to establish a self-sustaining habitat, the privately funded facility was taken over by Columbia University in 1995. Closed-system experiments were halted in favor of investigations focused on the effects of climate change, which continued after B2 was donated to the University of Arizona in 2011.

Biosphere 2 is the largest Earth science experiment ever built

The vivarium—an enclosed system including animals and plants—is sealed from below with 454 metric tons of stainless steel liner and includes an ocean habitat with more than 700,000 gallons of seawater. B2 is visited by 100,000 people yearly, including more than 10,000 K-12 students.

A basement of mechanical systems—collectively called the technosphere—supports B2

Twenty-six underground air handlers heat, cool, filter and manage the humidity of the air across the biomes of Biosphere 2. The above-ground Energy Center complex provides continuous power to these and other systems, including heating and cooling water for laboratory experiments and personal use.

Biosphere 2 revealed limitations in maintaining wildlife in unfamiliar environments

Trees appeared to become weak and more prone to breaking because a lack of wind caused them to no longer need to develop stress wood. The extinction of pollinators—potentially due to an explosion in the population of longhorn crazy ants—was also unexpected.

B2 models the interactions of air, water, soil, plants and microbes at the LEO

The Landscape Evolution Observatory at Biosphere 2 examines how factors such as climate change, water flow, weathering and community development impact landscape structures comprising 500 metric tons of crushed rock. Research is also conducted at biomes representing savannas, mangroves, coastal fog deserts, oceans and rainforests.

A prototype greenhouse for Biosphere 2 is now part of a test habitat for Mars

The Space Analog for the Moon and Mars combines the Test Module greenhouse with a workshop, kitchen, common area, sleeping quarters, and a yard that mimics lunar and Martian surfaces. A blind crew member in SAM’s first mission, Inclusion I, helped assess accessibility in potential future space habitats.

Early Earth lifeforms likely made energy via mineral reactions, not sunlight

Earth's initial atmosphere was filled with carbon dioxide, methane, and water, with most oxygen locked away in the rocky crust. Over time, bacteria evolved to slowly release that oxygen into the atmosphere by breaking down rock.

Questioning the results of life on K2-18b

An analysis of the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18b identified the presence of biosignatures—molecules that are created by living things on Earth. This discovery may indicate life exists beyond Earth, but the lack of environmental data complicates the interpretation of results.

An oxygen tank explosion forced Apollo 13 to abort its moon landing

The 1970 mission—intended to be the third lunar landing—forced astronauts Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise to focus solely on their survival. They engineered a makeshift filter to handle the carbon dioxide they produced, which exceeded the lunar module's capacity.

How specialized oxygen mixtures like heliox enable deep diving without feeling drunk

Beyond a depth of about 30 meters (98 feet), if divers are breathing surface air, which is about 78% nitrogen, underwater pressure forces more nitrogen into the bloodstream and induces nitrogen narcosis, whose symptoms resemble alcohol intoxication. Through saturation diving, where nitrogen is replaced with helium—an inert gas—deep divers can maintain cognitive function while working for extended periods.

The ocean's ability to store carbon long-term is being hindered by marine heatwaves

More than 4,000 robotic floats with biogeochemical data sensors, including oxygen, pH, nitrate, suspended particles, chlorophyll, temperature, and conductivity, have been deployed as part of the Global Ocean Biogeochemical Array. They have identified changes to ecosystem structure affecting the ocean's ability to transport carbon from surface waters into the deep.

Learn how environmental conditions are optimized to increase bioremediation efficacy

Through biostimulation, Indigenous microbes are provided with moisture, nutrients, or oxygen to prevent their death and ensure optimal progression of their biochemical reactions. Bioaugmentation can introduce new microbial cultures to target specific compounds not natively found in the environment, while landfarming can spread or aerate contaminated soil to improve access to contaminants.

O'Neill cylinders are free-space habitats that spin to create artificial gravity

Popularized in the 1970s by Princeton physicist Gerard K. O'Neill, the 15-mile-long structures would be manufactured from lunar and asteroid materials and house human colonies. His space colony ideas have since influenced works of science fiction.

Roman concrete lasts longer than modern recipes—and even gets stronger

Today's concrete is made by binding ingredients, including chalk and silica sand, at high temperatures. Unfortunately, it weakens when exposed to salt water. This article explores how and why scientists are studying ancient Roman concrete, which grows stronger when exposed to salt water.

Watch a visualization of the construction of Chernobyl's sarcophagus

Built to contain the remains of Reactor 4 after the nuclear disaster, the "shelter structure" was constructed from about 400,000 cubic meters of concrete—enough to fill 160 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Construction required vehicles and cranes modified with special shielding to protect workers.

As of 2025, humans have only dug 0.2% the way to Earth's center

The Kola Superdeep Borehole revealed two billion-year-old fossils and underground water, but the immense temperature and pressure prevented further tunneling. Beyond those depths, scientists know of Earth's interior by analyzing how seismic waves move.

Research shows Venus would be hotter if some of its CO₂ were swapped out

The planet's atmosphere—whose density is 92 times that of Earth's—is 96.5% carbon dioxide. Since these molecules all capture the same subset of infrared radiation emitted from Venus's surface, radiation outside this range escapes, demonstrating the increased impact that diverse greenhouse gas composition has on planetary warming.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Exploring carbon compound pore structures contributed to improved gas mask filtration

During World War II, the British Coal Utilisation Research Association sought to improve the efficiency of coal as an energy source and studied the effectiveness of charcoal filters to keep soldiers safe. Rosalind Franklin's research there formed the basis of her PhD and led to five scientific papers.

The story of the Manhattan Project's unused demon core

A 3-inch, 14-pound sphere of nuclear reactive plutonium-gallium was set to be delivered to the Pacific Theater in 1945 to become the third atomic bomb dropped over Japan. When Japan surrendered, it was returned to Los Alamos in New Mexico for experiment, where two scientists would die testing whether the core could reach criticality—where it would release intense energy—via the use of a dense reflector. Watch the story here.

The most advanced 'bunker-buster' bomb can penetrate 200 feet below soil or concrete

The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator is delivered exclusively by the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, which carries only two at a time. Using GPS-guided fins and a steel alloy casing, it burrows 200 feet underground before detonating.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Speleothems are diverse mineral formations that form in air-filled caves

Speleothems like stalactites and stalagmites form when water deposits minerals after a cave rises above the water table and fills with air. These formations preserve the mineral deposits, which may serve as climate proxies, for as long as a million years.

Since 2022, two-thirds of data centers have been built in water-stressed areas

In residential evaporative cooling systems, 10% of consumed water is lost to evaporation compared to 80% in data centers. Although some companies have pledged to become water-positive—replenishing more freshwater than they consume—by 2030 through a transition to air cooling, only 10% of data center operators track water use across all their facilities.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.