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Doomsday Seed Vault Design Unveiled
in2mind writes "The BBC News is reporting on the completion of a design for a 'doomsday' vault ... that will house seeds. All known varieties of food crops will be represented in the structure, which will be constructed by the Norwegian government. The vault aims to safeguard the world's agriculture from future catastrophes by building into the side of a mountain. On a remote island. Near the North pole. The Svalbard International Seed Vault will house the seed samples at a preservative -18C (0F), and could be used by post-apocalyptic people to feed a hungry planet."
...on seeds that are buried in a mountain on a remote island? Provided they can get there, how many big macs can they make from those seeds?
Now the aliens know where to aim their bunker buster lasers.
How am I supposed to get to these seeds in a post-apocalyptic world?
The Svalbard International Seed Vault will house the seed samples will at a preservative -18C (0F), and could be used by post-apocalyptic people to feed a hungry planet.
I don't think Unicron likes seeds.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Scientists go to the North Pole to build a Doomsday Vault, only to find such a vault is already there.
o_O
Sigs are for Terrorists.
...where did I leave that key?
If they started based on economic value I'm assuming the first seeds included were Hemp. It's the biggest cash crop in the US.
Ocean voyage. Fighting off post-apocalyptic pirates to get to the seed storage site only to find that it's submerged and you have to fight mutant sea creatures to get inside so you can save your village with the last non-mutated vegetables in the world.
:)
Kind of like a cross between "The Postman" and "Waterworld".
Okay, I lied about the "good" part.
Now they'll have something to eat besides all the cockroaches.
Nah, it could be a good movie, or a good video game, or paper RPG module, or book for that matter. I had the same exact thought, "Whoah, that would make a cool story!"
Imagine, it starts out in some desolate village, with people scraping by on a few mutant crops and canned goods. Every year, the situation becomes a little more desperate as the crops produce few viable seeds and the canned goods are running out. Our intrepid hero (probably a moon-headed youth out exploring some old ruins instead of working) finds a fragment of an ancient magazine mentioning the seed-vault. He has some difficulty convincing his elders to invest any of the villages precious food-stuffs in his hair-brained scheme, but then the village seed stocks are plundered by raiders, leaving no choice. Of course, the raiders find out about the seed-vault and thus become recurring bad-guys throughout the rest of the story.
The journey to the seed-vault would be fraught with danger. Mutants, savages, the ever-present raiders, hot-zones and weather run amok all dog our heros on their journey. I say heros, because of course we need a team. There has to be the strong and capable ranger-type who doesn't quite trust the kid; the plucky heroine, tomboyish until she lets her hair down and we discover just how beautiful she is; the kid's geeky friend who knows how to fix things; the brawny muscle-type with a secret heart of gold who sacrifices himself when all seems lost, and the sneaky one who turns out to be a traitor like we always suspected he would.
When they finally get there, they discover... well, it could go lots of ways here. I'll leave it up to the imagination.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Make sure you test the backup regularly. It would be quite a nuisance to wake up after a global disaster and find out that your seed backup is corrupted.
Mr. President, we must not allow a Seed Vault gap!
1) Build Post-Apocalyptic Seed Bank for $5 million
2) Cause Apocalypse
3) Profit!!
http://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
this seed storage facility may be far more beneficial than most people realize
Do they want some of mine? If they'll supply some Scandanavian blonde to help me out, that is.
some seeds (such as those of cocoa and rubber) are "recalcitrant" and can't be banked at all.
So, if there's a major apocalypse, then there will no longer be chocolate? That's one way to make an apocalypse even more apocalyptic...
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
Before going in to cold storage, one particularly bulked up seed was heard to say -- "I'll be back".
(Scene from "The Germinator")
I would think that after the sort of apocalypse that has you looking for seed banks, the appeal of anorexogenic anything will go down sharply.
There is a fine line between recklessness and courage... -- Paul McCartney
Apparently, they aren't yet interested in Slashdot semen, so this doesn't appear to be a tax deductible donation opportunity for you...