Terrarium

Terrariums are usually sealable glass containers that can be opened for maintenance and to access the plants inside. However, this is not essential; terrariums can also be open to the atmosphere rather than being sealed. Terrariums are often kept as decorative or ornamental items. Closed terrariums create a unique environment for plant growth, as the transparent walls allow for both heat and light to enter the terrarium. The sealed container combined with the heat entering the terrarium allows for the creation of a small scale water cycle. This happens because moisture from both the soil and plants evaporates in the elevated temperatures inside the terrarium. This water vapour then condenses on the walls of the container, and eventually falls back to the plants and soil below. This contributes to creating an ideal environment for growing plants due to the constant supply of water, thereby preventing the plants from becoming over dry. In addition to this, the light that passes through the transparent material of the terrarium allows for the plants within to photosynthesize, an important aspect of plant growth.

Terrarium (novel)

Terrarium, (ISBN 0-8125-5380-2 is) a 1985 science fiction novel by essayist Scott Russell Sanders published by Tor science fiction.

Plot

In the late 21st century, humans have been forcibly moved into an enclosed network of domed cities connected by travel tubes known as 'The Human System'. The outside world was left because of extreme pollution, and the cities rely on harvesting the seas. Inside these cities, (called the "Enclosure") taboos extend so far as to make uncovered legs and unpainted faces a horrific sin. Due to likely ongoing large scale social engineering there are 12 stages for mating but most women have their reproductive organs removed or are used as breeders starting at the age of 13.

Fear of the outside is extreme, another aspect of the social engineering that was incorporated into The Human System. Hence it is called the "wilder" and people who enter these lands legally on maintenance work are called wildergoers. Exiting The Human System without permission is illegal and might result in execution.

Terrarium (space habitat)

Asteroid terraria are fictional but hypothetically possible space habitats described in the hard science fiction novel 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson. In the novel, a 'terrarium' is an artificially created ecosystem living in the cylindrically shaped hollow interior of an asteroid. This hollow space is crafted with self replicating machine excavators. On the inner surface of this hollow cylinder an ecosystem can thrive in artificial gravity resulting from centripetal force, produced by spinning the asteroid on its longest axis. At least 2 kilometers of solid asteroid wall are left at all points around the hollow interior to provide radiation shielding and protection from interplanetary material, except at the entry hole. A lighting element, called a 'sunline', is strung inside the cylinder along the axis of rotation to provide artificial light. The lit part of the line travels the length of the cylinder to simulate the Sun’s path over Earth’s sky. During night phase, street lights, on the inner surface overhead, resemble stars.