Doomsday Vault

[chris]

I didn't know about this before! Was just checking out BBC News' updated design (i.e. seeing what I can steal for future projects ) and then came across this story:

BBC News - 'Red hot' chillies arrive at frozen seed vault

Pretty interesting.

[Dane End Dolly]

Thanks for that, it was an interesting read

[Snadger]

Until the ice melts, then what?...................Whats permafrost now may not be so in the future..........

[Flummery]

I know we can't keep everything going but I feel that what seed savers, swappers and heritage vegetable producers are doing is a better way to preserve germplasm that this sort of fossilising process.

[quark1]

Collectively - the seed banks from around the world are doing what any good data processor should do and store duplicates offsite in as safe conditions as possible.

Sadly I'm guessing that if a global - even local - calamity of the kind that this has been established to help 'repair' may see many of the survivors die from starvation whilst they wait for the crops to establish and produce. Assuming of course that the remaining land is not contaminated.

Perhaps, many years in the future, these seeds might be used to establish a new earth on some distant planet - perhaps this time they'll make a better job of things with harmony prevailing throughout!

From a botanical interest point of view I think its a great idea and would love to take a look at some species which have perhaps died out and seeds already on ice could be started off again. There have been many seed collectors over the centuries and Kew played a brilliant part in establishing the plant collections here and I believe in other parts of the world as well as collating much historical data.

Certainly our own seed swapping is as good a way as any to keep the quirky and heirloom species alive and kicking as long as possible.

[Snadger]

In Charles Darwins theory of evolution everything evolves. Old varieties are superceded by new varieties and eventually become extinct themselves, ad infinitum.
New varieties theoretically should be better suited to their environment.
We can't always dwell in the past.
I'm not saying the seedbank is a waste of time and effort and could'nt be used to re establish the status quo if all plantlife on earth was affected by a catastrophe, all I am saying is it is a snapshot in time similar to a time capsule and will be rapidly superceded by new plant species.

Is their intention to freeze seeds from every known plant on earth, which seems a daunting prospect, and one which would need addiitions every day!

[Flummery]

That works if evolution is still happening Snadger. We are stopping it in many cases. We aren't evolving any more - we have the technology to keep our weaker people alive and able to breed so we don't have the Survival of the Fittest any more. No good for evolution but I know which society I'd rather live in!

We have altered and destroyed the habitats of many plants (and animals) so if they are re-grown from stored seed, where will they live?

[teakdesk]

In Charles Darwins theory of evolution everything evolves. Old varieties are superceded by new varieties and eventually become extinct themselves, ad infinitum.

Humm....

Well, you've described his theory correctly in that he says that everything started as a single cell and after 300 million years life had evolved into today's species.

BUT... single cells were also around 200 million years ago and just starting their evolution chain and by his theory they should have, by now, managed to evolve into the species that were around 100 million years ago.

In fact his theory leads to the conclusion that some later single cells are only part-way down their evolution chain and are just about to evolve into dinosaurs.... and some have already done so and are living somewhere on the planet.



I'm not sure that Darwin's theory is all it's cracked up to be!!!!!

[Snadger]

Humm....






I'm not sure that Darwin's theory is all it's cracked up to be!!!!!

Niether were the Clergy!

[Snadger]

That works if evolution is still happening Snadger. We are stopping it in many cases. We aren't evolving any more - we have the technology to keep our weaker people alive and able to breed so we don't have the Survival of the Fittest any more. No good for evolution but I know which society I'd rather live in!

We have altered and destroyed the habitats of many plants (and animals) so if they are re-grown from stored seed, where will they live?

I still think we are evolving!

The first thing we'll lose will be our little fingers, we will become lazier, fatter initially but then thinner and weaker and eventually transcend our mortal bodies!
Keeping the weakest individuals alive and breeding from them will be counter productive in the long run but the strongest examples either in body or mind will still evolve to be maybe a dominent race in the future?

Or maybe we will finish up with Morlocks rearing the rest of us for food?

[Flummery]

Ya see, I don't agree. Why would we lose our little fingers? (Some of us CAN type properly!) We don't use our appendix but we still have one. (Unless someone removes it!)