Living in a bubble: Did this failed 90s experiment predict the future?

In 1991, eight people started a two-year adventure that would see them quarantined inside a replica of Earth’s ecosystem. It is a futuristic story straight out the pages of a sci-fi bestseller that has since been overlooked and discounted for its controversial collapse.

The huge environmental experiment, considered a failure at the time, was conducted in a 1.27 hectare vivarium in the Arizona desert.

After the Space Race of the 70s and 80s, the possibility of travelling to Mars (and beyond) was in sight. When creating the project, named Biosphere 2, scientists, engineers and businessmen set out to solve the problems of extraterrestrial survival.

Over seven years, a collection of sealed domes and greenhouses were constructed in Arizona, US to recreate earth on a smaller scale. The environment contained an 836 square metre ocean - with its own coral reef, desert, savannah grassland, and mangrove forest.

During the experiment, the ‘biospherians’ were expected to cultivate their own food and drink, while also maintaining liveable levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen - all with as little outside help as possible.

One of the biggest challenges was creating a world that could support life, without polluting the carefully controlled environment.

Everything taken into Biosphere 2 had to be screened for noxious gases that could put the inhabitants at risk. Even health and beauty products like chemical deodorants were banned. In order to prevent harmful substances from upsetting the ecosystem’s delicate balance, natural materials like wool and wood were used in living areas.

But it didn’t go exactly to plan. Oxygen levels became dangerously low as the plant life couldn’t keep up with carbon dioxide levels. Any oxygen that was produced was