This underground lab may unravel the complexities of human habitation on the Moon and Mars

A unique research facility nestled 1.1 kilometers underground in North Yorkshire could teach us about human habitation on celestial bodies.  

Researchers from the University of Birmingham have created the facility in one of the U.K.’s deepest mines. The tunnel-like structure burrows through a 250-million-year-old rock salt formation. 

It is named Bio-SPHERE, which stands for Biomedical Sub-surface Pod for Habitability and Extreme-environments Research in Expeditions. 

Experiments planned for this facility

This isolated, underground environment allows for the recreation of “operational…