Why Is There A Seed Vault In The Arctic Circle?

Episode 1 of 4



You may have heard about a vault in Svalbard holding plant seeds in case of a worldwide catastrophe, well meet the lady who runs one of the world’s largest science experiments!

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DNews Plus is built for enthusiastic science fans seeking out comprehensive conversations on the geeky topics they love. Host Trace Dominguez digs beyond the usual scope to deliver details, developments and opinions on advanced topics like AI, string theory and Mars exploration. DNews Plus is also offered as an audio podcast on iTunes.

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[JermStone]

I think the craziest thing about the seed vault is the fact that you see NO borders while inside. All these little boxes full of seeds next to each other. North Korea's boxes right next the USA boxes with no fear of war. It's kinda heart warming in a way.

[AlchemicalForge]

I wish every city around the United States and around the world would pick a single thing to focus on for the future Technologies and preservation of her.. Would that be cool if every city has something special that they did and the government helped to fund it.

[Master_Therion]

The question of who "owns" such an important fail-safe is important. At 3:20 she talks about this briefly. Did the Norwegian government entirely fund the project or only provide the seed money?

[abrahamchapman]

Why not build the seed vault in a mountain that is naturally minus 18?

That way they could save on energy costs, equipment expenses, and not have to worry about equipment failures or energy shortages.

[river]

that was amazing! I love that Norway is funding the preservation of seeds.

[IGetWetInHD]

i feel we should also do something similar with bees, cause they are getting wiped out quick

[PurlaneMauve]

In short: For an impending apocalypse (eg. Nuclear Winter, giant meteor, etc.)

[FormulaPontiac]

"In the Arctic Circle" is not the correct description to use. It's not technically wrong but as i will come back to there is a much better description of this area that is normal to use. The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude on the map. North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for twenty-four continuous hours at least once per year (and therefore visible at midnight) and below the horizon for twenty-four continuous hours at least once per year.
This region is called the ARCTIC.

[gothamgirl]

"...I did this while i was in Svalbard, which is 800 miles from the North Pole, super super cool..."
Am I the only one who noticed the unintentional pun here or...? :D

[azeller]

that norwegian english accent, could spot it a mile away

[Dimitrishuter]

The Norwegian accent is strong with this one

[flamingflesh]

hope in humanity restored! thank you Dnews

[dj-upnc]

I've subscribed to so many channels I don't even know if a channel has uploaded the same video twice or not.

[nicholasalcantar]

I miss when it was just Trace talking about cloning, aliens, light, and other topics. It was relaxing and interesting. Now it's people I don't know who aren't easy to hear and are more about a company or project than an interesting topic.

[sikskulll]

It goes to the center to the earth with those advanced humans down there!!

[tamu]

I may go to Svalbard in November. Even though I live in Norway, it's so freaking expensive.

[frozeneternity]

This is too cool!

It must have been freaking amazing to visit this place

[michaelpesavento]

Hi Trace, can you have her being back the fabled "HotDog Tree"Please!:)Thanks.

[jacobwcrosby]

Kind of funny/ironic that Derek of Veritasium also went to the Svalbard Seed Vault recently as well. I wonder if they got the idea from his adventure, if it was just a coincidence, or if there is some kind of 'marketing' campaign for the seed vault... Anybody know?

[JorgenLePoulpe]

So we know that we are damaging the environment, which is where our food comes from, and instead of putting money into technology that would reduce our negative impact there are private companies saving THEIR seeds for later when our natural food is not edible anymore (it can happen really quickly with radiation, for example).

When a huge corporation like Monsanto spend money, it's not to help humanity in general. It's to make more and more money.

Now I think that saving plants, especially those we eat, is as important as saving animal species and this seed bank is a good thing but if we ever rely on it some asshole will totally corrupt the whole thing and we will end up relying on a very small group of people to feed ourselves. Guess what happens next.