Containing bacteria, algae and tiny shrimp, this ecosphere, located in the Museum’s Cullman Hall of the Universe, was sealed in 1999 and hasn’t been opened since—it’s a self-sustaining habitat.
No feeding, no overpopulation, no pollution! These organisms stay alive year after year. How does this sealed ecosphere actually work? Algae make food from sunlight. Shrimp take oxygen from the water and exhale carbon dioxide; algae take in CO2 and give off O2. Microbes feed the shrimp—and the CO2-rich shrimp poop helps the algae and microbes!
Find the ecosphere, and much more information about it, at the Museum with the help of the Explorer app. Download Museum’s Explorer app, now available in Beta, on the App Store and on Google Play.
