While this might seem like a suggestion straight out of science fiction, the scientists behind this proposal have calculated that sending the cryogenically-frozen samples of sperm, eggs, spores, and seeds of some 6.7 million species to the relative safety of the moon might well be a feasible operation. 'Earth is naturally a volatile environment,' said study author Jekan Thangavelautham in his presentation on the paper, titled 'Lunar Pits and Lava Tubes for a Modern Ark,' adding that an Earth-based repository of samples would still leave specimens vulnerable to getting destroyed in a massive disaster.

This lunar ark, the researchers said, could help the earth repopulate if a catastrophic disaster - such as a deadly epidemic, a supervolcanic eruption, a large-scale nuclear war, widespread drought, or an asteroid - were to occur. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault the so-called doomsday vault on Spitsbergen in the Arctic Circle currently houses 992,000 unique seed samples to protect against biodiversity loss. The team of six researchers from the University of Arizona presented their idea at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Aerospace Conference, where they said their proposal would protect mankind from extinction. In particular, the Moon's lava tubes and lunar pits could be ideal places to construct a modern-day NoahвЂ™s Ark, similar in concept to Svalbard's famous 'Doomsday' Seed Vault, but in a place. Scientists want to create an underground structure to store materials that can save us in case of. A potential system for creating a hospitable atmosphere for life in a lunar vault would essentially be a three-part process: Machines would generate a mix of.

According to a New York Post report, this would be similar, conceptually, to the 'Doomsday' seed vault in Svalbard, Norway, which currently holds more than a million crop samples originating from almost every country in the world. The moon is a proposed location for a vault. A A Preparing for a doomsday scenario that could destroy the Earth, scientists from the University of Arizona have proposed building an underground ark hidden in a network of tubes on the Moon that could provide a genetic backup for the planet, CNN reported.

Propose doomsday vault moon