Monday, March 10, 2008

Doomsday Vault and seeds for thought


I just read a National Geographic news article about a Doomsday Vault built on a Norwegian artic island to store seeds. It stated that this vault "is designed to keep millions of seed samples safe from natural and unnatural disasters: global warming, asteroid strikes, plant diseases, nuclear warfare, and even earthquakes."
Wow. On one hand, I am thrilled we have a secure place to put seeds in case of disaster. I'm glad someone's paranoid enough to prepare ahead like this. On the other hand...oh, my gosh, how scary that we might need a place like this! Yikes.
I bet governments all over the world have tons of secret vaults full of stuff we don't know about and probably never will. It should would be fun to have a guided tour of some of them.
Speaking of seeds, and on a less serious note, an incredibly fun family video game is Viva Pinata. It's a life simulation game where your job is to take neglected land and turn it into a beautiful, fruitful garden. You have to plant seeds to grow plants, which in turn attract certain pinata animals. You must romance the animals to produce offspring and unlock achievements. You learn what different pinatas require to become residents of your garden, etc. It is a blast. I had so much fun playing this game with my children.
I'd love a garden in my backyard. I'd love a secret vault back there too! Heck, why not have a secret garden IN my secret vault. That's be awesome.
Would you build a vault in your backyard if you had the space and funds to do so? What would you keep stocked in your vault?

9 comments:

Cannon said...

I read about that too! Isn't that wild?

Let's see, if I had a vault it would be filled with life essentials like food, water, wine, beer. . .diapers. Ok, not sure but I'm sure I'd fill it with survivalist goofball stuff now that I'm responsible for other lives, my kiddos.

Also, if you're into gardening, there are some local community gardens you can join. I belong to one in Plano.

Rhea said...

Definitely essential items, but maybe also board games...and some of those electric massagers so we could start a back massage chain...

lol

I didn't know about community gardens. Interesting. Plano's not too far from me.

Jane Doe Jenn said...

If my back yard was big enough, I would grow a secret garden, with hedge mazes (just like in the movie, The Secret Garden) and perhaps put a vault inside of my secret garden. It would be disguized as a lovely little cabin, and would have a tornado bunker in the basement with emergency supplies, a crank radio, battery operated lamps and a stack of great classic children's books to read with the kids. Yummy treats, like our favorite chocolates, and I suppose a yarn stash with knitting needles would be good, eh? That sounds like a great writing project for my 11 year old to think up his own vault! Thanks for the idea!

P.S. I noticed on your profile that you published a short story. Congratulations! Do you have it on your blog to read? I love short stories!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. I don't think I'd want to see the world after a nuclear strike or anything horrid like that. So no, I don't think I'd build a place such as that! I can understand maybe earthquakes, plant disease, etc, but nuclear war, asteroid strikes...just don't wanna see the aftermath!

Rhea said...

Jane Doe Jenn, I love the idea of a log cabin disguised bunker. And, I don't have my story online to read, but that's a good idea. I'll have to do that.

Kim, you're probably right about not wanting to see the aftermath of a huge disaster but I think I'd still be curious.

Anonymous said...

That vault issue is kind of... scary. You know, storing seeds and all that stuff just in case we need it, wow, it makes me think about all the terrible things that could happen to us one of this days. And the worst of all is that we'd be responsible for most of them.

By the way, that video game, Viva Pinata, sounds fun!

Bye

Rhea said...

Hey, Andromaca!

I agree, scary stuff.

Viva Pinata is SO much fun. Very addicting.

Erin said...

So interesting! You know, there was a woman, a classicist, maybe you've heard of her, who collected *ancient* seeds to learn more about the Romans' diet! Seeds are cool. I wish we gave as much thought to soil conservation as to oil conservation.

Thought-provoking blog post, again! :)

Rhea said...

Thanks, Erin! I hadn't heard about the woman collecting ancient seeds. Sounds cool!