Norway’s Doomsday Seed Vault Hits 1/2 Million Mark

In November 2008, Forced Green posted an article on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The “Doomsday Seed Vault” lies 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) from the North Pole, in Norway’s remote Svalbard archipelago, quite literally an Arctic island. The vault complex is designed to withstand global warming, earthquakes and even nuclear strikes. A safeguard against wars or natural disasters wiping out food crops around the globe. A master backup to the world’s other 1,400 seed banks, in case their deposits are lost. A wise move especially in the face of such events as the war wiping out seed banks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and another bank in the Philippines was flooded in the wake of a typhoon in 2006.

Days after celebrating its second anniversary, the trust that oversees the seed collection announced on Thursday (March 11), the vault now houses half a million seed samples, making it the world’s most diverse repository of crop seeds. Since it opened for “deposits” two years ago the facility amassed at least one-third of the world’s crop seeds. Since it opened for “deposits” two years ago the facility amassed at least one-third of the world’s crop seeds (more…)

What is the purpose of termites?…

Those incredibly destructive little creatures have the potential to benefit
humans in the production of biofuels. Or more precisely, the bacteria in
their stomachs. Termites process the wood they ingest in a series of stomachs,
each with a distinct set of bacteria.  Those bugs within bugs release enzymes
that break down cellulose, the sugar chains in wood, into acetate, a fatty
acid that provides the termite’s energy. Scientists with the Joint Genome
Institute at the U.S. Department of Energy, hope to develop a process to
harness the power of these bacteria on an industrial scale to break cellulose
down into ethanol and provide biofuel without using food crops as a source. (more…)