Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Joanna had a busy Saturday. First thing she did when she woke up was to catch up with some house work in which she procrastinated since the passed few weekends. She washed her car, vacuumed the floor, changed her bed sheet and bathed her dog, Max.

After a busy morning, at last she got to sit down and rest. She took her latest issue of the Time Magazine and read something worth her time.

The first place for the best invention in year 2008 is the retail DNA test.

"Hmm...nice. Now we can know what our gene tells us instead of what we know about ourselves," Joanna thought for a moment before she read on.

pic from http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/04/mankinds-survival-in-the-hands-of-norway/

From the articles she was reading, what caught her attention most is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault at the Arctic Circle. At the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, almost every nation kept their collections of native seeds so local crops can be replanted in case of an agricultural disaster. The seeds are kept at a low temperature of -18 degree Celsius! If the facility loses power, the climate at the Arctic should be able to keep the seeds viable for thousands of years!

That concept of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault reminds her of the Noah's Ark. It was an act of human to preserve the seeds of plants. But in this case, human played the role of GOD.

pic from http://www.funnycollection.org/

She realized how life had changed over the past few centuries for human civilization. With the advancement in technology from cellphones, to internet, to Wi-Fi, to Human Genome Project and now the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the future of human civilization is really beyond human mind could imagine. But human brain had never failed to amuse Joanna. It was the curiosity of humans that lead us to the point we are now at.

When it comes to saving the environment, Joanna was never worried because there will always be some upcoming projects by some scientist to save the environment.

"I have no special talent, I'm just passionately curious"
-Albert Einstein-

Stay tune next week for more....