Jane Poynter: Life in Biosphere 2

www.ted.com Jane Poynter tells her story of living two years and 20 minutes in Biosphere 2 -- an experience that provoked her to explore how we might sustain life in the harshest of environments. This is the first TED talk drawn from an independently organized TEDx event, held at the University of Southern California.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at www.ted.com/tra.... Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com/ind...

[@chrisday1526]

This woman is incredibly passionate about this. Very interesting talk, enjoyed it, thank you.

[@CAIsMyCrack]

4 months to make a pizza... what if she burnt it lol.

[@ninjasocks6823]

some guy tried to make a pencil from scratch, took him 2 years

[@montanamike7948]

She would make another because by then she has enough produce and ingredients to make them from then in granted she has sustainable sources. Duh.

[@dad4378]

Timbo slice are you alive?

[@rohanr6708]

Yes theory brought me here

[@lornawood5845]

Same tho

[@kellybird8096]

Word

[@shinebright441]

Rohan Roseeawon me too’

[@tamzinc4506]

Same

[@mohammedfarhad85]

Same

[@MrNiceguy3210]

Biosphere should be attempted again, except with real scientists and a better design.

[@MrAlexanderLang]

just real scientist would do.

[@MrLiquidxIce]

Or survival experts

[@catsboi6278]

I don't know if they could do that because it's opens to tours know and also it's cooler than you think when your actually there

[@millanferende6723]

@@MrLiquidxIce "Time to drink my own piss."

[@grantdaly2986]

Space station seems to cope.

[@CuriousNekosan]

This is a fantastic talk. She has good energy. With regards to the biosphere project I found the role of the soil within the enclosure particularly interesting. Essentially it was the microorganisms consuming organic matter within the soil which caused the CO2 problem. I wonder what would of happened if they put more thought into engineering the soil. I would love to have that job. This is just so interesting. :D

[@Abquid]

The Biosphere2 is still out there near Tucson, AZ and well worth visiting...so interesting that I watched this rather scattered presentation and even read the book Jane Poynter wrote about the experience.

[@bullvinetheband7260]

Part of the bio dome should have been reserved for evergreen trees they produce oxygen year round. If there pruned like a zen garden the redwood will stay well under 100 feet.

[@Just.A.T-Rex]

It is. The biggest problem with the trees was that they didn’t account for simulating strong enough winds.

[@moosefactory133]

I will be visiting Tucson this June and hopefully will have a chance to visit Biosphere 2 if it is opened to the public

[@TheAmazingMrMcFlyy]

This lady is “doing the most” for ted

[@jasonlajoie]

Boy the end really made me feel guilty about all my flatulence. My poor great, great, great grandchildren are going to have to breath that in.

[@XCoreProduction]

Best bio lesson by lussi ever

[@cliveramsbotty6077]

glass blocks UV, condensation forms inside structures, curing concrete and calcium carbonate, humans like shagging. We didn't know any of this before the biosphere did we?

[@robdieselpower]

@JUKIO01 I´m using it for fictional mars missions in school, it´s very motivating!

[@ANDYBONE7]

really good video. great information thank you I have learn a lot.

[@Eddie303]

Superb... Thanx uploader

[@mooncaje]

Damn 9 years ago. Thats mad bro how are you know?

[@popaddict]

LOL I'm always impresses by fellow youtubers and their witty comments!

[@funnyguise]

She touches on permaculture with the rake story. I'd love to see Sepp Holzer (via translator, of course) or Bill Mollison or someone speaking on the subject. Hey, TEDtalksDirector, do you talk requests?

[@1schwererziehbar1]

best ted talk in months.

[@dad4378]

Are you alive 😐

[@paulussantosociwidjaja4781]

This remind me to the way of living at Brockwood Park Educational Community in UK I spent 4 and half years there.

[@jihadssignatureofficial9436]

Too much informative That's great❤

[@LordTerror56]

"14:20 this picture is so wrong xD" Yea. Another problem with it is that the top half of the picture has WAY more stars than the bottom half.

[@Chemicalogic]

Ya, I understand that they do groundbreaking research that's applicable to colonizing other planets, but I was ranting about how we've been--and still are--ultra careless with biosphere one.

[@eatingfatty]

now that is awesome!

[@zeynepacar2253]

No

[@gledalka]

amazing!

[@cal8414]

Why did the biosphere projects stop after one failed attempt ?

[@271gadget]

***** Wasn't really sustainable, Jane did not mention everything which happened. At one point she cut the tip of her finger of so went out of the biosphere for medical attention... Also the 8 members were not scientists so they did not entirely understand it all. At another point the scientists outside began pumping oxygen in and carbon dioxide out. Hence, this all defeats the idea of sustainable.

[@mikaelazed]

Also the second time they ran out of finance and there was a dispute over money issues

[@whitepeoplergullible9241]

It's there you can visit it.

[@kuraddohikari]

@@whitepeoplergullible9241 you can, they use it for other earth science projects now. I guess it was decided it's better put to use for other purposes rather than just continuing to put new people in it and experiment with a closed system again. But if we need it for that purpose again they could do it, the buildings are being maintained and they could go ahead and shut the doors again. Maybe one day we'll be looking to setting up a colony on the Moon and they'll do this experiment in the Biosphere with more scientific planning.

[@annebruecks7381]

@@kuraddohikari It was donated to the University of Arizona eventually, after the second attempt was stopped by the IRS/government.

[@sillyhead34]

wow. im jealous of this lady. she got to experience a completely pure way of life. she, for a while, understood everything about her life. one of the biggest stressors in my life is that i know that i would have no idea how to take care of myself if i did not have the option to depend on numerous industries and companies. and that, because i depend on the things i get from the store, i have no control over my life.

[@brandonarita8057]

Excelente video

[@josiya4187]

Epic video - stellar ending! :)

[@conoba]

Rain is 99% dinosaur piss that has been distilled serveral million times.

[@gledalka]

awesome idea!! :)

[@robdieselpower]

@BandytaCzasu yes, they do. Try it!

[@Sonic88Reducer]

Noiiiccee i want more pauly shore

[@mahabaida3077]

basically the hunger games

[@Todd82TA]

I wonder if she has to water her backyard to get it to look like that, or if she used native plants that pretty much are self-sustaining?

[@benhelius4204]

As she said, it's only for 6-8 weeks in spring, I assume, she doesn't water it (aside from that well maybe?)

[@JabroneyDirt]

Wow, I never knew biodome was a documentary?

[@Thetrutv]

She knows too much about what she is talking about, what an intelligent woman.

[@CurtBombS]

I can't find any information about Jane's education/Biography before Biosphere 2 when she was 29. Am I to just assume she was just a rich British kid?

[@ratholin]

wow second ted talk this week that used biophilic I just wish she hadn't given Prometheus credit for Tesla. This lady is nuts and brilliant at the same time. Good talk

[@1derShorts]

cool, is there any way i can read ur thesis?

[@izzzzzz6]

I just stumbled across this: They were building biosphere mentioned at 25mins in this TW video. ​@​

[@marshallbishop2506]

Ahhh the mighty oxygen scrubber known as concrete.

[@JustHuntr]

she is spot on.. the small things do count.. dont stand there and allow the water to run out the faucet while brushing your teeth for example. BE conservative

[@NUSORCA]

2:54 why is it cut

[@robdieselpower]

@worries good point!

[@chawk111]

Where do they keep the anti-Pauly Shore module?.

[@26bellezalatina]

Who is watching in 2015?

[@eurydicewaltz5063]

Yaritza Garcia Me. You can see her chopped of finger, and that's the whole reason why she ruined everything. But she covers that up.

[@danielho9544]

They also pump oxygen from biosphere 1 in to biosphere 2. Because during the night the plants in the biosphere 2 steals their oxygen and they just can't breathe. The whole this is a major fail. LoL and ya I am watching it at 2015. HI

[@andreaquinn1645]

daniel ho Biosphere has generated about 125 scientific studies, including regarding climate change impacts on acidification of the ocean and the repercussions therefrom. It seems like a primer on climate change might be of use to you. ncse.com/climate/climate-change-101

[@SheriffMuttonchops]

No one is.

[@johannesfranck1770]

2020

[@IdrisBusari]

Transform deserts to #Eden . #ThrowAwaytheRake , let dead leaves build up the topsoil and build an #oasis !

[@sausage4mash]

you have inspired me too poop more , thank you

[@Alkazone5]

No Problem

[@dad4378]

@@Alkazone5 No Problem

[@m4tt655]

@@dad4378 No Problem

[@ieatsocks7567]

@@m4tt655 No Problem

[@MitzvosGolem1]

The 1972 film "silent running " may have inspired this ...

[@ledzzappa]

this bird is flippin loopy, i read her book on biosphere 2.

[@normalguy7898]

Please, tell me more.

[@annebruecks7381]

What happened to form the 2 factons?

[@robdieselpower]

@xXAkridXx its very educational, I used in class. Perfect. If only she´d be less overexcited ;)

[@GrayGuard]

Been there.

[@thinhpham4713]

Interesting how she felt when she was at a supermarket.

[@ajickdesign1998]

Yes Theory?

[@zeytelaloi]

omfg i was really surprised when i heard she spent time in Eritrea. n i think ive seen those farms seen

[@etwasnichts9398]

In fact she was the one that failed the project with taking stuff back to the biosphere 2 after a injury of her hand

[@E1GHTY8]

excellent observation

[@JennerPomo]

I am looking for a team and Investers to rebuild BioSphere 2 in a Matter Trap and build a satallight and put it in to space by the matter trap beam. The Satalight then beams up the BioSphere 2 and puts it in to space the BioSphere 2 picks up the Satalight and the Moves to the Moon and Mars. Then at the Moon or Mars BioSphere 2 puts out the Satalight and beams on to the suerfus of the Moon or Mars. Charles Gitchell Jr. Jenner Pomo Research/Earth/Space/

[@vincelamb4063]

"Spaceship Earth" brought me here.

[@robdieselpower]

@BarneyFlart look for JUKIO01´s comment. It´s because of mars missions.

[@CH--mo9ep]

Wow !

[@adityasinghrajput5148]

theinfographics show bought me here

[@vegidio]

The idea was great and I think it should be attempted again with the lessons learned from the first experiment, but they need to do things right: 1. Put real scientists there. Most of the team in Biosphere 2, including Jane, had next to zero scientific background. 2. Don't try to fake the experiment like they did in the original one, using some resources from outside like... oxygen! 3. The biospherians don't need to me military personal, but they need military training. Jane was the first failure of the experiment when she cut the tip of her finger in the first 2 weeks, forcing her to leave and later return. By the way, when she returned, she brought new resources from outside. 4. Also, the need to someone (or at least 2 people) with some type of medical training. The fact the Jane had to leave the experiment because she cut the tip of her finger was embarrassing.

[@flatearth2461]

how on earth anybody survived 2yrs with her... painful

[@michaelvoskanyan220]

I watched this because in my science class we are designing a "biosphere" so, yeah.....

[@davidbrauner2822]

So exelent pointes for vegetable oxigen teraforming Mars?

[@michaelmuturi12]

one easy way to gauge the intellectual substance of Ted talk or you tube video; just look at the comments, this talk was a joke, as an ecologist, it's disappointing to see such a grand experiment wasted on people who were not serious, by the looks of it she was there for the thrills

[@Mastikator]

Cool

[@mooncaje]

School brought me here....

[@bogdan2501]

Why yell? I really wanted to hear the story... too bad

[@baronvonbasscat]

same : ( that strident voice is probably what doomed the Biosphere 2. BTW they should have called it Biosphere 1 because we live on Earth yo, not "B.S.1" ; D

[@siriusleigh24]

I thought the same. Obviously doesn't know what the microphone was for.

[@Mister__Jey]

The goal is kind of weird, so why didn't they have tundra, why didn't they have an ice landscape? I mean, these are also areas on earth that take up a lot of space.

[@2pua3]

Part of it was finding biomes that would compliment and help each other. For example, the Desert was a fog desert, so it was more "wet" than a normal desert. The tundra wouldn't have contributed much and would have been difficult to maintain, esp because everything was interconnected. The biomes weren't separated. I also imagine logistically, it would have been a nightmare. The Sonoran Desert is *hot* and the cooling was a closed system. How would you keep it cold enough sustainably enough?

[@joshuatoro8977]

Where is the Cow?

[@BandytaCzasu]

Those small biospheres in jar really do work?

[@annebruecks7381]

For awhile.

[@niniomigrania]

But its better to fail here on earth all we can before going into other planets, this still a success in my opinion.

[@JustHuntr]

wow.. so the concrete is whats going to kill the earth? Basically?

[@madam.bovary.]

Funda Hocamdan duyup geldim 🙋‍♀️

[@pongfonge]

Why do we make coffins so comfortable? They always look pretty damn cozy and they cost a fortune, but I'm not quite sure what the benefit is. I think I'll go with cremation and save some space for the living. PS That solar radiation will cause some gnarly sun burns. I think there are some ways colonists could cope on Mars but it's all theory. One low tech solution is burying the colonies under a few layers of Martian soil. This could help but well need more than this.

[@chris-2496]

You won't go with anything when you are dead - you will be dead. The cosy coffin is for those saying goodbye to the deceased to honour the memory. The dead have not much say in this.

[@JennerPomo]

Needed gravity mite come from SEG's Iron core Magnet's spinning. Charles Gitchell Jr. Jenner Pomo Research/Earth/Space/

[@heartobefelt]

If concrete inside the biosphere contributed to the loss of Oxygen , then what is the affect of the concrete jungles we live in ? cities use billions of tons of concrete , should we immediately start coating it all with a sealing membrane and change building codes to negate this problem ? after all . everything we do on earth affects the future of our biosphere

[@startnotionstopmotionbob9878]

You apparently didn't listen to what she actually said, the concrete didn't absorb it directly/on it's own.

[@scientchahming5]

The difference is that cities are open air,

[@luminatrixfanfiction]

I think there's a misconception here. Concrete absorbs CO2 to form Calcium Carbonate. It's not absorbing oxygen, just CO2 but that is equally bad because, plants need CO2 to survive and if concrete absorbs it, then you start to get a biosphere system failure. The main culprit of what was causing loss of oxygen was due to bacterial microbes in the soil which was consuming oxygen.

[@Cypherson]

If that's the most you take from this, that is sad indeed.

[@Sgt-Gravy]

This project should get the first Artificial Intelligence super computer... Right?

[@lakermangmx]

wiki : Marc Cooper wrote[that "the group that built, conceived, and directs the Biosphere project is not a group of high-tech researchers on the cutting edge of science but a clique of recycled theater performers that evolved out of an authoritarian and decidedly non-scientific personality cult".

[@bishop51807]

80% comments are trolls this experiment did show us how little we knew of earth.

[@saraessex8124]

Stubby, and squirrely...springboard into the future!

[@firstnamesecondname5341]

While her energy levels are admirable she needs to learn to turn the volume down, watching the 14 minutes from earth documentary and quite a few biosphere recordings, it seemed her over enthusiasm caused a few issues and subsequent oversight resulted in a couple of dangerous situations evolving

[@Indeterminite]

I feel so sorry for these people. I couldn't imagine living in a glass dome for 2 years with this woman

[@abc3902]

the voice…………...slow down.

[@RiggyRonnie]

The whole thing was a fail. She cut the top of her finger and went to a HOSPITAL at around day 12. Later they started pumping oxygen in there lol.

[@kingmezs23]

She also crushed her hand during her 2 year stint and sort of fucked the project up by starting the ball rolling on conspiracy, that's worth noting.

[@annebruecks7381]

12 days in her finger got ripped of by a thresher. She was evacuated but then went back in.

[@JeremyGViking]

AND A KILLER BUZZ!! lol Thats very true though.

[@whitepeoplergullible9241]

Who is seeing this in 2020?

[@javenbarber311]

This chick was the first failure for the Biosphere 2 project... she cut the tip of her finger off and had to leave the Biosphere for medical help within the first 2 weeks of it's inception.

[@annebruecks7381]

On Mars she would have just had to deal with the missing finger.

[@Mattmlo]

Bio Dome!!!

[@cyphaflip]

Eh... the point of Biosphere 2 was to test if we could erect these self-contained, closed-system livable units on different PLANETS, and also to better understand the necessary components to create independent life-supporting systems for humans. Shortsightedness? Hardly.

[@ratholin]

Yeah there should be a colonize and terraform game. Did you ever play sim earth back in the old days?

[@shane7105]

She was the worst one there lol. cut her finger 12 days in, smuggled stuff in when she came back, married one of the others and divided the group.

[@franciscagustin]

Fully agree

[@shane7105]

@@franciscagustin meaning you've done your research🤘🏼

[@MJack2255]

I like how she says she walked into BioSphere and became one with it but left out for only 7 days before she had to leave for medical treatment because she hurt herself with something then had spare parts in the air lock with her when she came back in. I wanted to hear about the 8 people and the two factions. Not the same old bullshit she could have said in 5 minutes.

[@mmpoggs2033]

So we are in a dome!? I thought so!

[@bbjames3430]

8L

[@popaddict]

I'm so going to throw away my rake and lawn mower in the name ecology. I've been trying to find an excuse for not mowing the lawn for ages!

[@kuchino]

And get fined by the HOA