On Wednesday we drove from Scottsdale to Las Cruces, stopping by Biosphere 2. We tried to stop by the craft store at the State Prison (there was a shack nearby with a sign declaring "prisoner crafts for sale") but it was closed. Disappointing. Biosphere 2 was probably better, though, ultimately. It's called Biosphere 2 because we are currently living on Biosphere 1 (Earth). It was built as an attempt to recreate Earth in a fully sealed and self-sustaining environment, in the hopes of learning how to build colonies on other planets. It ultimately mostly failed, and is now run by Columbia University for environmental research.
This is the ocean section. You can see the glass wall, there to the right.