The beauty and wisdom of trees
Imagine a mini version of our beautiful Planet.
A 3.14-acre sealed greenhouse with a miniature ocean, a rainforest, a desert, a mangrove swamp, a savanna and a farm.
Biosphere 2 was a $150-million futuristic experiment. Built between 1987 and 1991 near Oracle, Arizona.
It was originally built for scientists to re-create the Earth's ecosystems in a closed ecological system. The goal was to see if humans could live a self-sustaining colony in outer space.
Biosphere 2 was an expensive failure. But it led to a fascinating and unexpected discovery.
Inside Biosphere 2, trees fell over before they matured.
Scientists were intrigued, "Why wouldn't trees thrive in such perfect environment!?"
Later, they discovered the reason.
The trees were weakened because there was no wind in the biosphere.
Turns out, trees need what botanists call 'stress wood'. When wind blows against trees, it causes them to bend back and forth. And this stress compresses the wood, and makes trees stronger.
If you think about it, trees are just like creative people.
When tough times come, creative people (and brands) always find a way. Because the pressure forces them to focus on what works instead of what's trendy.
P.S. David Abbot would agree. I think you'll enjoy this brilliant David Abbot ad from the 90s. (via Dave Dye 's brilliant blog).
Your pal,
Miguel Ferreira
Founder & Chief Copywriter, Teardwn + Nishi
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