6 ms·

I just don't think there is enough evidence to believe his story.

reaperducer 7y ago
People have been building terraria for centuries. You can buy all shapes and sizes in stores, some with fish. Though the fish ones probably don't last after the fish dies. Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.
- munificent 7y ago
  Terminology pedantry since I recently got in "jarrariums" and have been reading a bunch... Most terraria are not sealed, so while we've been making them forever, that doesn't say much about the viability of sealed ones. As far as I know, research into closed ecosystems didn't start until the 20th century. If it has fish in it, it's not a terrarium. Terraria are land-based (hence the name). Think garden in a box. The main thing a terrarium gives you over simply potting some plants is that it can increase the local humidity. Also, you can have animals in it (usually invertebrates that eat detritus), which helps it be lower-maintainance. If it's full of water, it's an aquarium (again hence the name). Most aquaria today don't have living plants and only have animals. That requires mechanical filtration and oxygenation to replicate the side of the ecosystem that plants normally occupy. A "planted tank" is an aquarium with live plants in it. When balanced well, they can be lower maintainance because the plants and animals provide things the other need. If the box is half-submerged with both aquatic and land-based life, it's a "paludarium".
- TremendousJudge 7y ago
  >Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline. I've come to realize this is true, but why?
  - freeflight 7y ago
    Gardening/farming is pretty much as far removed from the urban, heavily tech-influenced lifestyle most netizens live in as it can be. But imho this is about to change, lots of people burning out on the rapid cycles and inherent unsustainability of living the "always online city lifestyle" and thus looking for ways to escape to something more natural in the form of gardening or even farming.
whenchamenia 7y ago
You are correct, but there is very little incentive to lie. Maybe a helpful family member watered it a few times and never mentioned it. The concept does at least work for a few years as many sources can confirm, and the story is firmly in the plausible range imho. But in typical fashion, the data is scant and maybe contradictory. The point on HN seems to be; the takeaway, arguing grammar/numbers/journalistic standard, and cooler-topics recently, and this has all 3. (Hyperbolic comments too, in case the /s is not autodetected by the content-bot mentality)
- onemoresoop 7y ago
  Why would anyone need to water it? Am I missing something? This is sealed like other terrariums, the water recycles, it has nowhere to escape (unless the plug is poorly sealed). Probably the first time it was opened in 1972 to be watered was because the water level wasn't high enough from the beginning.
  - nkrisc 7y ago
    Because someone who doesn't know better might think it needs to be opened and watered.
    - pvaldes 7y ago
      Because biological growth increases the number of cells, and more cells need more water to survive than less cells.
      - onemoresoop 7y ago
        Interesting thought, but in this case, simplistically put, the water, a limited resource, is the food for the cells. The population will grow until no more food is present and will reach balance in the eco-system. And the cells that die recycle back into the system
        pvaldes 7y ago
jedimastert 7y ago
I mean, sealed terrariums are and have been a known thing for a long time. If you look more into it, 50 years doesn't seem all that implausible. To me, the most amazing part is keeping something around for that long.
nkrisc 7y ago
Based on my layman knowledge of the relevant scientific fields here, it certainly seems plausible. He's not claiming anything that extraordinary. The stakes are also incredibly low, it's not like he's lying about his achievement to get some kind of grant.

People have been building terraria for centuries. You can buy all shapes and sizes in stores, some with fish. Though the fish ones probably don't last after the fish dies. Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline.

munificent 7y ago
Terminology pedantry since I recently got in "jarrariums" and have been reading a bunch... Most terraria are not sealed, so while we've been making them forever, that doesn't say much about the viability of sealed ones. As far as I know, research into closed ecosystems didn't start until the 20th century. If it has fish in it, it's not a terrarium. Terraria are land-based (hence the name). Think garden in a box. The main thing a terrarium gives you over simply potting some plants is that it can increase the local humidity. Also, you can have animals in it (usually invertebrates that eat detritus), which helps it be lower-maintainance. If it's full of water, it's an aquarium (again hence the name). Most aquaria today don't have living plants and only have animals. That requires mechanical filtration and oxygenation to replicate the side of the ecosystem that plants normally occupy. A "planted tank" is an aquarium with live plants in it. When balanced well, they can be lower maintainance because the plants and animals provide things the other need. If the box is half-submerged with both aquatic and land-based life, it's a "paludarium".
TremendousJudge 7y ago
>Gardening is one of the many areas of life where the best information and the bulk of information is offline. I've come to realize this is true, but why?
- freeflight 7y ago
  Gardening/farming is pretty much as far removed from the urban, heavily tech-influenced lifestyle most netizens live in as it can be. But imho this is about to change, lots of people burning out on the rapid cycles and inherent unsustainability of living the "always online city lifestyle" and thus looking for ways to escape to something more natural in the form of gardening or even farming.

whenchamenia 7y ago

You are correct, but there is very little incentive to lie. Maybe a helpful family member watered it a few times and never mentioned it. The concept does at least work for a few years as many sources can confirm, and the story is firmly in the plausible range imho. But in typical fashion, the data is scant and maybe contradictory. The point on HN seems to be; the takeaway, arguing grammar/numbers/journalistic standard, and cooler-topics recently, and this has all 3. (Hyperbolic comments too, in case the /s is not autodetected by the content-bot mentality)

onemoresoop 7y ago
Why would anyone need to water it? Am I missing something? This is sealed like other terrariums, the water recycles, it has nowhere to escape (unless the plug is poorly sealed). Probably the first time it was opened in 1972 to be watered was because the water level wasn't high enough from the beginning.
- nkrisc 7y ago
  Because someone who doesn't know better might think it needs to be opened and watered.
  - pvaldes 7y ago
    Because biological growth increases the number of cells, and more cells need more water to survive than less cells.
    - onemoresoop 7y ago
      Interesting thought, but in this case, simplistically put, the water, a limited resource, is the food for the cells. The population will grow until no more food is present and will reach balance in the eco-system. And the cells that die recycle back into the system
      - pvaldes 7y ago

jedimastert 7y ago

I mean, sealed terrariums are and have been a known thing for a long time. If you look more into it, 50 years doesn't seem all that implausible. To me, the most amazing part is keeping something around for that long.

nkrisc 7y ago

Based on my layman knowledge of the relevant scientific fields here, it certainly seems plausible. He's not claiming anything that extraordinary. The stakes are also incredibly low, it's not like he's lying about his achievement to get some kind of grant.