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Little Aussie BioSphere
(Please Note! This product can not be shipped outside of Australia)
Something totally new and amazing for Australia!
Absolutely fascinating, totally captivating and educational too; this is the "one and only" Little Aussie BioSphere™, Australia's very first "completely sealed ecosystem" for the classroom, desktop, or window sill.
The Little Aussie BioSphere™ is a completely self-sustained miniature world completely encased in glass. Little Aussie BioSphere™ makes a perfect gift or purchase; this unique mini-aquarium originates from a technology first developed by NASA.
What's Inside? Little Aussie BioSphere™ contains a selection of small, captive bred, Australian native critters. Living inside each sphere are tiny marine snails and a number of very busy and playful ball shaped marine Ostracod shrimp that playfully swim about in their crystal habitat. Additionally the little Ostrocod's will continuously reproduce live young inside the sphere to replace those that die from old age, each shrimp having a natual life span of three to four months or more.
Little Aussie BioSphere is a Living Work of Art.
The Little Aussie BioSphere™ is not just a scientific marvel, but a perfect work of art. Easy to care for, the Little Aussie BioSphere™ is a fantastic teaching-aid, which provides a simplified view of how life works on our planet and the technology of future space-travel.
With the Little Aussie BioSphere™ you begin to feel as though its a window looking into an entirely different world, watch as the Sea Snails, Ostrocods (seed shrimp) & Algae - thrive in their unique environment and perfectly balanced ecosystem. The beauty of their self-contained world is further enhanced by the fan shaped gorgonia branches, giving this watery orb a real three dimensional depth.
NASA developed BioSpheres to Study Space Travel.
Many
years ago Scientists were studying ways to build spaceships that could
keep astronauts alive for long space journeys. They wanted the
environment inside the spaceship to maintain itself, producing food and
oxygen for the crew and keeping the air and water clean and reusable. As
part of NASA's experiments, they discovered how to make a
self-contained living world inside a closed glass container.
Clair Folsome, who pioneered
laboratory-sized ecospheres.
Dr Joe Hanson and the late Dr Clair Folsome research scientists employed by NASA laboratories first developed what were coined "materially closed, energetically open ecosystems" AKA "Biospheres". NASA was researching self-contained communities for space explorers to live in during long-term space flights. And as a spin off from this work came these beautiful ecosystems of animal and plant life in perfect balance with nature.
Because these tiny, living worlds were so beautiful and helped people understand about the balance of nature, NASA gave the technology away so that these little worlds could be enjoyed by everybody.
Here is how a "closed ecosystem" such as Little Aussie BioSphere™ works
- Light (sun or artificial light) makes the algae grow.
- Algae produce oxygen bubbles and food for the seed shrimp.
- Seed shrimp and snails eat the algae as food and breathe in the oxygen.
- Seed shrimp and snails produce waste carbon dioxide whilst breathing out and solid waste material from eating the algae.
- The microscopic bacteria then feed on the waste from the Seed Shrimp and snail's, breaking the waste matter down into nutrients.
- The algae use the nutrients and the carbon dioxide breathed out by the shrimp and snails (and light energy) to grow back, so the shrimp will have yet another meal.
- And round and round goes the cycle for the shrimp, snails and algae as each species goes through numerous generations.
As long as nothing disturbs this balance (such as too much heat or too little light), everything lives in harmony. Just as on Earth.
Did you know?
Earth itself is a massive, very complicated ecosphere. The planet Earth has air, water, land, and life. It also has the Sun for energy with out it the earth would not be what it is today.
Ecology and the Balance of Nature.
Every part of Earths ecosphere depends on every other part. For example, if some of the seaweed in the oceans dies, fish will have less oxygen, because seaweed produces oxygen. If a volcano erupts and puts a lot of soot into the atmosphere, the wind could spread the particles for thousands of miles. Less sunshine would get through, so the air temperature could be colder for a while. Also, less sunshine means plants would not grow as fast, nor produce as much oxygen. How much water is frozen as ice has a lot to do with Earth's climate and how living things thrive and adapt to their environments. " What a perfect educational gift that can be used to demonstrate ecology as it works and as a symbolic demonstration of the delicate balance and fragility of our own planet Earth.
Diameter of Little Aussie BioSphere 9 CM X 9 CM.
Platinum Express Parcel Delivery
To minimise shipping time. Little Aussie Biosphere is sent with "Australia Posts - Platinum Express Parcel Service"
- Platinum Express is a "guaranteed next day delivery service"
- Platinum Express is the fastest delivery service offered.
- If you are unavailable for signing the parcel, it will be returned to the nearest post office to await pick up by you.
- All parcels are guaranteed to be delivered next day(once lodged at Australia Post).
All parcels are guaranteed to arrive undamaged. Insurance is included with shipping cost however in the unlikely event that your Biosphere is damaged during transit please report damage to the delivering post office as soon as you receive it.
Please NoteLittle Aussie Products is a small family owned enterprise. We are also located in a rural setting, thus we only post once per week. Platinum Express Parcel Delivery is exclusive to the Little Aussie Biosphere and is only employed to reduce time spent without light. As Platinum Express is a more expensive shipping method, a charge of $30 will apply instead of our usual P & H fees. |
