The Texas investment company that owns Biosphere 2 north of Tucson, Arizona is selling the place. Billionaire Ed Bass dropped $200 million in the 1980s to build Biosphere 2 as a prototype "space colony." The experiment suffered major scientific and managerial problems and was eventually opened to the public as a tourist attraction. From the Arizona Daily Star:
"We're looking at everything from government entities, universities and private schools to church groups, resorts and spas as potential owners," (said Christopher T. Bannon, general manager of Decisions Investment Corp.) "We'd love to see the Biosphere 2 used as a research activity, but we know that may not be the end result."
UPDATE: Jamie McCarthy says: "It's a bit unfair to refer only to Biosphere 2's 'scientific problems.' It's been doing good science since it dropped off the media's radar. Scientific American Frontiers devoted a segment to the Biosphere global-warming-related experiments. Link
