Friday, November 20, 2009

Doomsday vault

With 2012 just around the corner, there's been plenty of hullabaloo about doomsday (click here for a definition), and Hollywood has been quick to capitalize on the occasion to rake in the bucks with box office hits of dubious quality, such as the recently released "2012" by director Roland Emmerich.
But is there anything behind all the fuss? Well, the world's governments seem to think so, as they have collaborated en masse in the creation of the "doomsday vault" project, about which you will know more after watching this video (scroll down). Answer the following questions in your notepad after watching:
  1. What exactly is the "doomsday vault" and where is it located?
  2. What four catastrophes is the vault secure against, and how does it guarantee this security?
  3. Why have they chosen such a cold location? Does it require refrigeration?
  4. How many seeds will be stored there and by which countries?
  5. Are there other seed banks in the world? What makes the Svalbard site different?
  6. Who owns the vault and the seeds?
  7. Where are the individual samples stored?
  8. Who is Kerry Fowler and what is his warning to mankind?
  9. What three modern developments does the reporter cite as justifications for the Svalbard project?
  10. Do you think this is a good idea? Why or why not?

1 comment:

  1. On the one hand, they are spending too much money in something that we don't know if it will work if doomsday comes.

    On the other hand, it's not a bad idea not for doomsday but for catastrophes.

    In my opinion, I don't know if it will worth it or not and maybe it would be more interesting to spend that amount of money in other things that would change the world's situation.

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