Now You Can Own Your Own Universe
Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum spent two years in the closed ecological system called Biosphere II in the early 1990s. After they emerged, they launched Paragon, a Tucson-based company that’s now marketing a pint-size biosphere for the home.
The self-contained terrarium has plants that never have to be watered and pets that never have to be fed. Available in sizes from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, the sealed glass contains a pond ecosystem, complete with aquatic plants, tiny shrimp, snails, spinning water bugs and various microorganisms.
Many of Biosphere’s critters can be observed with the naked eye, though others require a magnifying glass. The tiny world does need some attention: an hour of direct sunlight and about 12 hours of indirect light daily, as well as a more or less constant temperature between 65 and 80 degrees.
Poynter and MacCallum also recommend that you keep a close eye on your little greenhouse, watching for various clues to the ecosystem’s health, such as too much algae (which means the environment needs less light) or fewer animals swimming around (which means it needs more light). Biosphere comes with a one-year warranty, although its makers say it will thrive for many years with proper care.
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Pack Up Your Troubles: A Sandy Hook, Conn., company called Geoami has come up with a completely recyclable packaging material that offers the cushioning advantages of Styrofoam peanuts and plastic bubble wrap yet can be stored flat.
Manufactured in rolls of flat paper sheets that are slit by an unusual, continuous cutting process, the paper expands to a three-dimensional paper honeycomb shape with just a simple tug. The producers say the honeycomb design deflects shock away from whatever is packed in the material, and you don’t even need tape to secure it.
Best of all, in its unexpanded state Geoami takes up less than one-twentieth the space needed to store bubble wrap. Two varieties of Geoami are available: brown, made primarily from recycled corrugated cardboard, and the costlier white, which comes from recycled envelopes.
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Forever Fluorescent: It’s always nice to have fewer chores, and lights that seldom need replacement are certainly a help. Technicians at Osram Sylvania of Danvers, Mass., have come up with a modification of fluorescent lamp technology that promises to triple the life of the average light.
Traditional fluorescent bulbs have an electrode at each end of the tube. The new lamp does away with the electrodes, instead using magnetic-induction technology to create light-producing electrons. That means it has fewer parts that can wear out and a longer life.
You won’t be able to use your old fluorescent ballast--the device that provides the start-up current that makes the gas in a fluorescent light glow. Osram Sylvania is now working on the design of the ballast that will accompany the new lamp, Endura, which will be available for sale next year.
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Mary Purpura and Paolo Pontoniere can be reached via e-mail at PMPurPont@aol.com
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The Top 10
Cyber Sci-Fi
In honor of the opening in theaters this week of a “special edition” of the world’s best-known sci-fi thriller, “Star Wars,” here’s a look at the top 10 science fiction sites on the Internet, according to researchers at https://www.lycos.com:
Site name (number): 1 Cracks in the Web
Web address: https://www.directnet.com/ ~gmorris/title.html
Rating*: 44
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Site name (number): 2 The Star Wars Hub
Web address: https://161.32.228.104/david.htm
Rating*: 43
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Site name (number): 3 The SciFi Site
Web address: https://abacus.ghj.com/sci_fi/default.htm
Rating*: 42.5
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Site name (number): 4 Spike Webb, Net Detective
Web address: https://www.spikeweb.com/home/html
Rating*: 42
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Site name (number): 5 Schwann’s Global Webtrance
Web address: https://www.aztec.co.za/users/schwann
Rating*: 41
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Site name (number): 6 The 2001: A Space Odyssey Resource Archive
Web address: https://www.design.no/2001/
Rating*: 40.5
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Site name (number): 7 The Lurker’s Guide to Babylon
Web address: https://www.hyperion.com/lurk/lurker.html
Rating*: 40
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Site name (number): 8 The Outer Limits
Web address: https://www.theouterlimits.com/
Rating*: 39.5
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Site name (number): 9 Tales From the Vault
Web address: https://www.regroup.com/storyart/tales/
Rating*: 39
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Site name (number): 10 William Gibson’s Yard Show
Web address: https://www.idoru.com/
Rating*: 38.5
* Sites are rated on a scale of 1 to 50 according to an average of ratings given for content, presentation and the researchers’ overall experience at the site.
Source: From the Top 5% sites by Lycos Inc.
