This morning we had a Gila Woodpecker that was in the tree being very vocal. The bad John thought it would be funny to play the Gila Woodpecker bird call from inside the trailer. Before along, we had a Gila Woodpecker hanging on the Hummingbird feeder looking inside the rig. She flew off once she saw our movement. We then went about our business and when I went by the window, she was once again hanging on the Hummingbird feeder but it looked like she was trying to put her beak in to one of the flowers. Well, we at least know that the bird call is a good one.
We decided to do some exploring of the area north of us so we set out for Oracle State Park. The map we had looked like it was along Highway 77. It wasn't, so we overshot it by several miles. We backtracked to the town of Oracle and found the state park. It has a number of hiking trails but the terrain was nothing that called to us.
We then headed south and decided to stop at Biosphere2. If you allow your mind to wander back to 1990, you will likely recall this experiment. First a little history, a venture that was backed by billionaire, Edward P Bass, began construction of the current facility in 1986 for the purpose of research and development of self-sustaining space colonization technology. In 1991, there was a mission where there were eight people sealed inside the glass enclosure for two years. Another mission in 1993 had a total of seven Biospherians sealed inside the closure. Their missions were to measure survivability while at the same time, develop useful research to help to further better ecological understanding. The University of Arizona now has the stewardship of Biosphere 2 and will use the facilities to support research and perform key experiments at quantifying some of the consequences of global climate change.
Before the tour started, we sat in on a presentation by Edward Beshore, Senior Staff Scientist, of the LPL/Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona. The presentation was on "The Search of Near Earth Objects". Actually, it was quite interesting.
Once the presentation was over, we were off for the tour. As you walk toward the main complex, you see the huge glass building that houses the rain forest.
Here is a picture of the habitat. The tall building houses the library. The only way up is 120 steps and offers an outside view of the whole complex. With all the glass and a direct view downward, we were told that it can cause anxiety attacks so they don't allow the public to go up.
This is a shot of one of the desert climates in the Biosphere...there are three different climates.
A scientist was doing a study on Pinon trees to see why they are dying at such a rampant pace. Some say it is due to a particular beetle but the scientist says it is due to the prolonged drought which has weakened the trees to where the beetle is destroying them. The question is why is this drought different from what the trees have experienced forever. His results are to be available on Biosphere2 website sometime in April.
John was most interested when we got to go in the basement and got to see the equipment that temperature controls everything in the Biosphere.
The Biosphere even has an ocean with fish.
The Biosphere has a beautiful rain forest. I like this shot which shows the filtered sun through the mist of the rain forest.
Another shot of the rain forest.
This large, long tunnel lead in to the South Lung.
Here is a picture of the interior of the South Lung.
This is an outside shot of the angled tunnel that we had to walk through to get to the South Lung.
A shot of the West Lung.
These buildings are part of the Habitat and is being prepared to grow who knows what.
Threw in this shot of the cactus on the grounds with the beautiful purple color. 
We got back home and settled outside for a while. Later in the evening our neighbors, Don and Sue, came over to teach us to play the card game Wizard. We had a good time and will hopefully get a chance to play again before they leave on the 23rd.
No comments:
Post a Comment