On mass dynamics in a closed ecological system, determined with a prototype vacuum mass comparator – a methodological validation study

Abstract

The aim of this work was to validate a novel methodology for high-resolution, repetitive measurements of mass dynamics of biological processes and structures in a closed plant-earth ecosystem consisting of Mammillaria vetula and microorganisms. To perform these experiments, the living system was materially welded into a newly developed Titanium Weighing Hollow Body (TWHB) with a laser. Three non-vital, also hermetically welded and high-vacuum suitable, externally identical TWHBs, filled with sand, served as controls. All TWHBs were equipped with a feedthrough and integrated light source. LEDs generated continuous light in all four bodies, which drove the photobiological processes in the vital test body and allowed long-term growth. Mass differences of the TWHBs were measured with a vacuum mass comparator at four points in time three months apart against two stainless steel mass standards. The expanded measurement uncertainty of the mass increase of the vital TWHB was calculated according to the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) in each of the three independent experiments. The mass gain of the vital over the three nonvital TWHBs over the total experimental period of 9 months was +18 μg with the expanded measurement uncertainty 30 μg. The resulting mass gain would have had to be > 48 μ g $ > 48\enspace {\mu}\mathrm{g}$ to be considered statistically significant with a confidence level of 97.7%; time intervals over three and six months were also not significant. The study validates for the first time a methodology capable of measuring mass dynamics of living matter over time, when statistically sound conclusions with measurement uncertainties in the microgram range are required. This opens up a new level of precision mass measurements, which makes the methodology a candidate, e.g., for the verification of the principle of mass conservation in the life-sciences.