NATION IN BRIEF : ARIZONA : Botanist Ends Sealed Unit Test With Feast

A Thanksgiving dinner awaited a botanist in Oracle, Ariz., who completed a record-breaking, three-week stay inside a sealed, greenhouse-like module that generates its own food, air and water. Linda Leigh, 39, wearing a bright red jumpsuit, emerged from the airtight, glass-and-steel module to greet 30 co-workers, friends and reporters. She then began a medical exam before leaving for a Thanksgiving dinner with friends. She had entered the futuristic structure the size of a two-car garage Nov. 2 for the longest-ever stay inside an entirely independent ecosystem. “She was quite struck by the beauty of the system and the knowledge of how it works,” said Abigail Alling, director of the project.