After years of preparation, four men and eight women two years shut the door on the world they hope to aid and began Thursday of ecological research in Maria , an airtight, three-acre structure of glass and steel that has stirred controversy as well as awe. At midmorning , the four told project officials they were about to begin work on their respective "biome" or ecosystem. The Biosphere has a growing area as well as wilderness rain forest, marsh, mini-ocean, African savanna and desert. They will recycle their air, water and waste, and live off a half-acre of land and plants grown in tanks of water fused with nutrients, seeking possibilities of living in artificial atmospheres in outer space.
After years of preparation, four men and eight women two years shut the door on the world they hope to aid and began Thursday of ecological research in Maria , an airtight, three-acre structure of glass and steel that has stirred controversy as well as awe. At midmorning , the four told project officials they were about to begin work on their respective "biome" or ecosystem. They will recycle their air, water and waste, and live off a half-acre of land and plants grown in tanks of water fused with nutrients, seeking possibilities of living in artificial atmospheres in outer space.