Closed ecological systems are self-regulating biological processes in which matter cycles internally with minimal or no exchange of material with the external environment, while energy transfer (typically light or heat) may still occur. These systems integrate biogeochemical cycles, primary production, respiration, decomposition, and microbial nutrient recycling to maintain homeostasis of gases, water, and essential elements. Biological processes within closed ecological systems include autotrophic carbon fixation, trophic energy transfer, symbiotic interactions, and feedback-regulated population dynamics, all constrained by finite resource pools and carrying capacity. Such systems are studied to understand ecosystem resilience, stability, and the functional coupling of biological and physicochemical processes under strictly bounded conditions.
For the first time since the Apollo era, humans are preparing not just to visit the moon, but to live and work there for weeks, months—and eventually years.
Space Exploration
Apr 2, 2026
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25
Take a typical fish out of the water and it won't live long. It gets the oxygen it needs from the water it swims in. In a similar way, scientists are exploring dependency as a method of controlling what microbes can do and ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 2, 2026
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The Artemis II mission launches this week as a first step toward returning to the moon and reaching Mars. Materials scientist Debbie Senesky explains the material tech that makes these missions possible.
Space Exploration
Apr 1, 2026
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A research team from the Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), the Department of Environmental Process Engineering (UVT) at the University of Bremen and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has made significant ...
Space Exploration
Mar 20, 2026
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76
As the U.S. plans to return to the moon with the upcoming Artemis II mission, a question endures: What will future lunar explorers eat? According to new research from The University of Texas at Austin, the answer might be ...
Astrobiology
Mar 5, 2026
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166
Dining on the moon or Mars might seem like a fantasy reserved for science fiction, but researchers are investigating how it could become a reality. Their efforts to recycle plant and human waste into a fertilizer material—turning ...
Astrobiology
Feb 25, 2026
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Thinking about food systems in deep space likely brings to mind something like The Martian where an astronaut is scratching barely enough food to survive out of potatoes grown in Martian regolith. Or perhaps a fancy hydroponic ...
Space Exploration
Feb 25, 2026
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It's an age-old debate in space circles: Should humanity's first city on another world be built on the moon, or on Mars? As recently as last year, SpaceX founder Elon Musk saw missions to the moon as a "distraction." In a ...
Space Exploration
Feb 21, 2026
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If humans want to live in space, whether on spacecraft or the surface of Mars, one of the first problems to solve is that of water for drinking, hygiene, and life-sustaining plants. Even bringing water to the International ...
Space Exploration
Feb 9, 2026
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19
From a distance, Biosphere 2 emerges from the cacti and creosote of the Sonoran desert like a gleaming oasis, a colony of glass and bright white structures. Despite being just outside Tucson, Arizona, it looks almost like ...
Astrobiology
Sep 23, 2025
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