The probability of a global catastrophe through the fault of a person, accompanied by the death of millions of people, animals and plants, is very large and constantly increasing. According to scientists, we are talking about the impending sixth mass extinction.
It is not surprising that under these conditions a group of researchers from the University of Arizona (UA) developed the concept of construction on the Moon of a bio -storage entitled “Noah’s Ark”, where millions of earthly samples of seeds, dispute, sperm and eggs will be collected.
His prototype was a global storage of seeds on Spitsbergen in the Arctic. This is a giant Bank of seeds from almost a million samples of the most important food crops from around the world, created in the event of a global catastrophe.
However, in 2016, as a result of eternal permafrost, water began to penetrate the storage, which indicates its unreliability and vulnerability in the conditions of global climate changes. As it turned out, there are very few absolutely safe places on Earth.
Scientists from UA proposed an unusual solution to this problem – to place the vault of earth’s biomaterials on … the Moon. They are convinced that it is our companion that is the perfect place for the placement of the “Noah’s Ark”: it is uninhabited, it is stable cold, there are no earthquakes and floods that create problems in earthly conditions.
According to the researchers, the ideal place for the Noah’s Ark on the Moon is lava pipes hidden under the surface. It will be possible to get into storage facilities with the help of elevators. The temperature of the storage of seeds will be approximately –180 °, and animal cells –196 ° C. The vitality of the storage will be provided by solar panels located on the surface.
Cold modules have another plus – at cryogenic temperatures, the effect of quantum levitation occurs, in which the superconducting material freezes above a powerful magnet, which can be used to install shelves with samples.
The main problem of the lunar “nuis the ark” is the delivery of samples from the ground. According to scientists, for transporting only 50 samples from each of the 6.7 million. species will require about 250 launches.
Source — University of Arizona