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BioHome
BioHome was a small facility created by NASA in the late 1980s that could support one person in a fully functional habitat. One of the influences on the project was the results from data obtained on the 1973 Skylab 3 (SL-3), where a total of 107 VOCs were offgassed by synthetic materials that composed the SL-3. However, the study of indoor air quality was not the only focus of the project, as it was a part of research into closed ecological life support systems. The facility was still in use as of March 5, 2005, and has paved inroads into creating self-supporting life support systems. Construction Construction of the BioHome concluded in 1989 and construction materials included synthetics which gave off the aforementioned VOCs. The BioHome itself resembles a mobile home in size where it contained a living area and treatment facilities for human waste and air. While not completely air-tight, such as the Biosphere 2 structure, the structure was engineered for maximum air a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Controlled Ecological Life Support System
Controlled (or closed) ecological life-support systems (acronym CELSS) are a self-supporting life support system for space stations and colonies typically through controlled closed ecological systems, such as the BioHome, BIOS-3, Biosphere 2, Mars Desert Research Station, and Yuegong-1. Original concept CELSS was first pioneered by the Soviet Union during the famed "Space Race" in the 1950s–60s. Originated by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and furthered by V.I. Vernadsky, the first forays into this science were the use of closed, unmanned ecosystems, expanding into the research facility known as the BIOS-3. Then in 1965, manned experiments began in the BIOS-3. Rationale Human presence in space, thus far, has been limited to our own Earth–Moon system. Also, everything that astronauts would need in the way of life support (air, water, and food) has been brought with them. This may be economical for short missions of spacecraft, but it is not the most viable solution when dealing with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), to give the U.S. space development effort a distinctly civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. NASA has since led most American space exploration, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968-1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. NASA supports the International Space Station and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the crewed lunar Artemis program, Commercial Crew spacecraft, and the planned Lunar Gateway space station. The agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program, which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aquatic Plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments (saltwater or freshwater). They are also referred to as hydrophytes or macrophytes to distinguish them from algae and other microphytes. A macrophyte is a plant that grows in or near water and is either emergent, submergent, or floating. In lakes and rivers macrophytes provide cover for fish, substrate for aquatic invertebrates, produce oxygen, and act as food for some fish and wildlife. Macrophytes are primary producers and are the basis of the food web for many organisms. They have a significant effect on soil chemistry and light levels as they slow down the flow of water and capture pollutants and trap sediments. Excess sediment will settle into the benthos aided by the reduction of flow rates caused by the presence of plant stems, leaves and roots. Some plants have the capability of absorbing pollutants into their tissue. Seaweeds are multicellular marine algae and, although their ecologi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898,Dimmock p. 4 more than 9,000 virus species have been described in detail of the millions of types of viruses in the environment. Viruses are found in almost every ecosystem on Earth and are the most numerous type of biological entity. The study of viruses is known as virology, a subspeciality of microbiology. When infected, a host cell is often forced to rapidly produce thousands of copies of the original virus. When not inside an infected cell or in the process of infecting a cell, viruses exist in the form of independent particles, or ''virions'', consisting of (i) the genetic material, i. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bacteria
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the first life forms to appear on Earth, and are present in most of its habitats. Bacteria inhabit soil, water, acidic hot springs, radioactive waste, and the deep biosphere of Earth's crust. Bacteria are vital in many stages of the nutrient cycle by recycling nutrients such as the fixation of nitrogen from the atmosphere. The nutrient cycle includes the decomposition of dead bodies; bacteria are responsible for the putrefaction stage in this process. In the biological communities surrounding hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, extremophile bacteria provide the nutrients needed to sustain life by converting dissolved compounds, such as hydrogen sulphide and methane, to energy. Bacteria also live in symbiotic and parasitic relationsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Organic Compound
In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The study of the properties, reactions, and syntheses of organic compounds comprise the discipline known as organic chemistry. For historical reasons, a few classes of carbon-containing compounds (e.g., carbonate salts and cyanide salts), along with a few other exceptions (e.g., carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide), are not classified as organic compounds and are considered inorganic. Other than those just named, little consensus exists among chemists on precisely which carbon-containing compounds are excluded, making any rigorous definition of an organic compound elusive. Although organic compounds make up only a small percentage of Earth's crust, they are of central importance because all known life is based on organic compounds. Living t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microorganisms
A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in older texts. The informal synonym ''microbe'' () comes from μικρός, mikrós, "small" and βίος, bíos, "life". is an organism of microscopic size, which may exist in its single-celled form or as a colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen microbial life was suspected from ancient times, such as in Jain scriptures from sixth century BC India. The scientific study of microorganisms began with their observation under the microscope in the 1670s by Anton van Leeuwenhoek. In the 1850s, Louis Pasteur found that microorganisms caused food spoilage, debunking the theory of spontaneous generation. In the 1880s, Robert Koch discovered that microorganisms caused the diseases tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria, and anthrax. Because micr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symbiotic
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasitic. The organisms, each termed a symbiont, must be of different species. In 1879, Heinrich Anton de Bary defined it as "the living together of unlike organisms". The term was subject to a century-long debate about whether it should specifically denote mutualism, as in lichens. Biologists have now abandoned that restriction. Symbiosis can be obligatory, which means that one or more of the symbionts depend on each other for survival, or facultative (optional), when they can generally live independently. Symbiosis is also classified by physical attachment. When symbionts form a single body it is called conjunctive symbiosis, while all other arrangements are called disjunctive symbiosis."symbiosis." Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iris (plant)
''Iris'' is a flowering plant genus of 310 accepted species with showy flowers. As well as being the scientific name, ''iris'' is also widely used as a common name for all ''Iris'' species, as well as some belonging to other closely related genera. A common name for some species is 'flags', while the plants of the subgenus '' Scorpiris'' are widely known as 'junos', particularly in horticulture. It is a popular garden flower. The often-segregated, monotypic genera '' Belamcanda'' (blackberry lily, ''I. domestica''), '' Hermodactylus'' (snake's head iris, ''I. tuberosa''), and ''Pardanthopsis'' (vesper iris, '' I. dichotoma'') are currently included in ''Iris''. Three Iris varieties are used in the Iris flower data set outlined by Ronald Fisher in his 1936 paper ''The use of multiple measurements in taxonomic problems'' as an example of linear discriminant analysis. Description Irises are perennial plants, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises) or, in drier cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soft Rush
''Juncus effusus'', with the common names common rush or soft rush, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant species in the rush family Juncaceae. In North America, the common name soft rush also refers to '' Juncus interior''. Distribution ''Juncus effusus'' is nearly cosmopolitan, considered native in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, and South America. It has naturalized in Australia, Madagascar, and various oceanic islands. It is found growing in wet areas, such as wetlands, riparian areas, and marshes. In the United Kingdom it is found in purple moor-grass and rush pastures and fen-meadow plant associations. Description ''Juncus effusus'' grows in large clumps about tall at the water's edge along streams and ditches, but can be invasive anywhere with moist soil. It is commonly found growing in humus-rich areas like marshes, ditches, fens, and beaver dams. The stems are smooth cylinders with light pith filling. The yellowish inflorescence appears to emerge from one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phragmites
''Phragmites'' () is a genus of four species of large perennial reed grasses found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Taxonomy The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families, maintained by Kew Garden in London, accepts the following four species: * ''Phragmites australis'' ( Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. – cosmopolitan * ''Phragmites japonicus'' Steud. – Japan, Korea, Ryukyu Islands, Russian Far East * ''Phragmites karka'' ( Retz.) Trin. ex Steud. – tropical Africa, southern Asia, Australia, some Pacific Islands, invasive in New Zealand * ''Phragmites mauritianus'' Kunth – central + southern Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius The cosmopolitan common reed has the generally accepted botanical name ''Phragmites australis''. (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud. About 130 other synonyms have been proposed. Examples include ''Phragmites communis'' Trin., ''Arundo phragmites'' L., and ''Phragmites vulgaris'' (Lam.) Crép. (illegitimate name). Wildlife in reed beds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulrush
Bulrush is a vernacular name for several large wetland grass-like plants *Sedge family (Cyperaceae): **''Cyperus'' **''Scirpus'' **'' Blysmus'' **''Bolboschoenus'' **''Scirpoides'' **''Isolepis'' **''Schoenoplectus'' **''Trichophorum'' *Typhaceae: **''Typha'' The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland recommends "bulrush" as an English name for plants in the genus ''Typha''. These species are also sometimes known as reedmace, cattails or black paddies. One particular famous story involving bulrushes is that of the ark of bulrushes in the Book of Exodus. In this story, it is said that the infant Moses was found in a boat made of bulrushes. Within the context of the story, this is probably paper reed (''Cyperus papyrus''). See also Rushes (Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially rese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
