Slashdot Mirror
Work Begins on Arctic Seed Vault
Aryabhata writes "BBC reports that Norway is starting construction on a 'doomsday vault' in the Arctic which is designed to house all known varieties of the world's crops. The vault's purpose is to ensure survival of crop diversity in the event of plant epidemics, nuclear war, natural disasters or climate change; and to offer the world a chance to restart growth of food crops that may have been wiped out. 'More than 100 countries have backed the vault, which will store seeds, packaged in foil, at sub-zero temperatures. ...
Norway's Agriculture Minister Terje Riis-Johansen has called the vault a "Noah's Ark on Svalbard."'"
The sad part comes when in 50 years this vault is eagerly opened and found to only contain many many dead weevils.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
General "Buck" Turgidson: Doctor, you mentioned the ratio of ten women to each man. Now, wouldn't that necessitate the abandonment of the so-called monogamous sexual relationship, I mean, as far as men were concerned?
Dr. Strangelove: Regrettably, yes. But it is, you know, a sacrifice required for the future of the human race. I hasten to add that since each man will be required to do prodigious... service along these lines, the women will have to be selected for their sexual characteristics which will have to be of a highly stimulating nature
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -- Carl Sagan
...the seed vault would probably end up being destroyed in the nuclear war.
I can just see it now...
"SoyLent Food Company - Good people making good food. Now in Green flavor!"
Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
Which one would YOU choose?
...
You must always choose the lesser of two weevils!
(end of post)
2145. It was after the gene wars. Mankind huddled in the dark on baron continents, fighting each other for tiny scraps of meat. But there was a hero; one with a memory of the before time and the scrapers, and the courage to make the dangerous journey to the artica where, the ancient scrolls hinted, the salvation of mankind might be found.
For over a decade, he and his brave knights fought against danger and fortune to make their way to the artica. Many died. Much was lost. But one day, our intrepid hero arrived home, in his tiny, all-but-dead village. He carried in his hand, a single vile.
"this is all that has survived of my trip" he explained. "though the artica contained many wonders, our journey was hard, and most of our cargo was lost. We managed to save this one plant. It shall be the foundation of a new human culture. We shall plant it and tend it, and we shall teach our children to cherish it. This plant is a gift from our distant ancestors. It's name" (he turns the vile on its side so that he can read the inscription) "is, Kudzu"
http://i5.tinypic.com/14x12ty.jpg
I know of the perfect place! A huge, secure facility bored into a mountain that is designed to hold its contents unperturbed for extremely long periods of time. It's under a mountain, like you say...Yucca Mountain, I think it's called...
If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.
Silent Running, http://imdb.com/title/tt0067756/
In the end they all die except the stupid little robot.
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: So the seeds are buried somewhere round here ...but those features appear to be buried under a hundred feet of snow and we no longer have the technology to map the land that far down.
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: But where exactly?
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: Well I have the GPS coordinates here but they're a bit useless seeing as the GPS satellites were first to go in the War
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: So how are we going to find them?
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: Well I have a picture of the site.
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: Cool, what does it look like?
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: Well it's a patch of white snow surrounded by lots of white snow.
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: Don't you have a map or something?
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: Yeah, I can see exactly where it is relative to a bunch of features...
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: Cool!
Post-apocalyptic Human 1:
Post-apocalyptic Human 2: So what are we going to do?
Post-apocalyptic Human 1: Screw it! Seeds are just hippie food anyway.
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
Perhaps fighting against fortune wasn't the best strategy?
YES. This is exactly why I support raising domesticated sex slave females. Selective breeding will insure that they are extremely successful from an evolutionary standpoint.