TXC

© SchirraGiraldi (Manuela Schirra and Fabrizio Giraldi)


TerraXcube is a unique environmental simulation system which can artificially simulate the extreme climatic conditions of the earth at the push of a button for research purposes, from snowstorms on the highest summits to the heat of desert regions.

Temperatures from –40°C to +60°C, artificial solar radiation, 60 mm of rain per hour, 5 cm of snow per hour, wind speeds of up to 108 km/h as well as simulated air pressure and oxygen content conditions for up to 9,000 metres above sea level: all of these are artificially generated climate conditions with which a new age of industrial, medical and ecological research can begin.

"The ability to set the pressure – underlines the biologist Georg Niedrist – makes terraXcube a unique infrastructure worldwide and opens up new perspectives for agricultural and environmental research. This technological support allows us to address basic questions that so far could not be answered. How do organisms behave when pressure changes? Can mountains offer suitable shelter for all species that migrate to higher altitudes due to climate change? How long do they take to adapt?”.

TerraXcube is located in the NOI Tech Park district of Bolzano (Italy).


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