Can this really be a good idea?*
A "doomsday" seed vault built to protect millions of food crops from climate change, wars and natural disasters opened Tuesday deep within an Arctic mountain in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
"The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is our insurance policy," Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told delegates at the opening ceremony. "It is the Noah's Ark for securing biological diversity for future generations."
Someone needs to do some more watching of post-apocalyptic horror movies.
*I kid. Of course, it's a good idea. I mean, I personally have always wanted to be ruled by a WHEAT-BASED ROBOT OVERLORD.
I read about this a short while back and also saw it on the Today Show this morning. I think it's a great idea. I can think of worse things to stockpile.
Posted by: MaryP | February 26, 2008 at 13:39
Oh, I know, Mary -- I'm just being a smartypants.
Posted by: Gwenda | February 26, 2008 at 13:49
What, you weren't planning to hide in there? Who better than a secret hereditary cult of subterranean Norwegian agronomists to rebuild civilization after the disaster?
Posted by: David Moles | February 26, 2008 at 14:09
Dude, it's Svalbard. The ice bears will have annexed that place by now.
Posted by: Gwenda | February 26, 2008 at 14:13
Oh, I knew you we're kidding. I think the "wheat-based robot" was a pretty good hint ; )
Posted by: MaryP | February 26, 2008 at 14:43
See, this is the sort of thing that puts the science writer in me (who's saying "cool!" as she takes a break from researching plant genetics for an article) and the fiction writer in me (who just finished copyedits of her book about a world full of killer plants) totally at odds with each other. :-)
Posted by: Janni | February 26, 2008 at 14:56
No worries, Gwenda; we'll defeat them with our arsenal of plot holes and continuity errors.
Posted by: David Moles | February 26, 2008 at 14:56
Have you read "Siberia" by Ann Halam? She loosely based it on the seed bank in Leningrad which was held during the more than two year siege of WWII by the scientists - many of whom lost their lives.
In "Siberia" the protagonist is saving DNA strands, but the principle is the same (and the book is OUTSTANDING)!
Posted by: Colleen | February 26, 2008 at 16:22
Totally creepy. And I love that it's Svalbard. How cool a place name is that? Almost as cool as "Bolvanger".
Posted by: Laini | March 02, 2008 at 15:19