Crossword clues for ecosphere
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
n. 1 The portion of the atmosphere from sea-level to about 4000 meters in which it is possible to breathe without technological assistance. 2 the biosphere
Wikipedia
Ecosphere has several different meanings:
- In ecology the term ecosphere can refer to the Earth's spheres, a planetary ecosystem consisting of the atmosphere, the geosphere (lithosphere), the hydrosphere, and the biosphere.
- In astronomy an ecosphere is an imaginary shell of space surrounding stars where conditions are such that life might survive. See habitable zone.
- Ecosphere (aquarium) is a water filled sealed glass ball containing living algae and shrimp in a stable miniature ecosystem.
- Ecosphere is also the name of an open-access journal published by the Ecological Society of America
The EcoSphere and "Original Ecosphere" are trademark names for sealed blown-glass miniature aquaria produced by Ecosphere Associates, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona, United States. Spherical or ovoid, the aquaria range from roughly baseball-size to soccer-ball-size. They are sold worldwide as scientific novelties and decorative objects.
The EcoSphere's main visual appeal is provided by tiny red-pink shrimp, Halocaridina rubra, between 1/4 and 3/8 inch (or approximately a centimeter) in length. The shrimp swim energetically around the aquarium, eat the brown bacterial and algal scum on the glass, consume the filamentous green algae which sometimes forms a globular pillow in the water, and perch on a fragment of soft coral.
The main conceptual interest of these objects lies in the fact that they are materially closed ecological systems which are self-sustaining over a period of years. At room temperature, and with only low inputs of light, the algae produce oxygen which supports the shrimp and bacteria. Bacteria break down the shrimps' wastes. The breakdown products provide nutrients to the algae and bacteria upon which the shrimp feed. The manufacturer states that shrimp live in the EcoSphere for an average of 2 to 3 years, and are known to live over 10 years.
A magnetic scrubber is enclosed in each EcoSphere. By passing another magnet over the outside of the glass, the owner can manipulate the scrubber to clean the inside of the EcoSphere.
Ecosphere is a social enterprise that works on the sustainable development of Spiti Valley, a cold mountain desert in the Trans- Himalayas of India, by focusing on economic empowerment, environmental conservation and community development. It is a collaborative effort between the local community of Spiti and professionals from diverse backgrounds.
Usage examples of "ecosphere".
When the more technologically advanced peoples of the Eastern Hemisphere "discovered" the Americas, they found the "primitives" enjoying chocolate, tomatoes, potatoes, corn, and chili peppers, which is to say that the so-called national cuisines of Italy, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Austria, and so forth were actually based upon products imported from foreign ecospheres.
Before the EVA, Charlie discovered that the… nanotech in the ecospheres was dropping out of its networks for an unexplained reason.
He leaned back in his chair, in his lab, among the dying ecospheres and the hydroponics tanks, and swung his feet onto the lab bench.
We worked on it for years: a non-DNA life system capable of forming its own ecospheres in environments more extreme than the ones DNA can readily cope with.
The arks launched before the Crash are still en route and if Eveline Hywood and her panspermist friends are right, the galaxy must be full of worlds that have ecospheres of their own, including many that are ripe for colonization.
The planet is still geologically active, and many ecospheres have therefore evolved and continue to evolve, resulting in a rich profusion of plants and animals, most of which are eaten, in one form or another, by one or more of the many human tribal subcultures, though, alas, the planetary mismanagement by the still rather primitive humans is presently resulting in a certain narrowing of this wonderful biological diversity.
But both those species lived in rich ecospheres, where food existed in abundance.
Conserving ecospheres, let alone repairing them, isn’t so easy, especially as we never understood how they worked anyhow.
We know so far that test tube ecospheres, created in laboratories like this one, have managed to sustain healthy microbial populations for over, twenty years.
Behind Tuf a dozen towering plasteel ecospheres emerged from the walls, each open at the top and full of soil.
Motion turns her head: A figure inside the Ecosphere presses against the glass, flattened dead features of its face above a T-shirt that reads RUGBY PLAYERS EAT THEIR DEAD.