ESA scientist suggests putting a DNA repository on the Moon in case of a catastrophic event on Earth.
BBC News
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ESA scientist suggests putting a DNA repository on the Moon in case of a catastrophic event on Earth.
BBC News
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Heck, why not? Far as I am concerned, whatever gets us there is a good thing.
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As long as Europe pays for it I have no problem with this. It'll probably cost as much or more than the entire ISS, though. Good luck guys!
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Who or what is expected to regenerate whatever portion of the current biota is represented by this collection of DNA? I envision a massive and complex support system including robots and sophisticated AI.ESA scientist suggests putting a DNA repository on the Moon in case of a catastrophic event on Earth.
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Hmm, I was kind of picturing technicians monitoring banks of equipment.
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Great idea. My only question is, if all life on Earth is wiped out, who would be left to "repopulate" it? I suppose robots could do it, but so far we have lacked AI sophisticated enough for such a critical role as the continued existence of the human (and animal) race. And if an event so catastrophic occurred as to wipe out the entire organic population on the planet, would Earth be left suitable to repopulate in its wake, or will it have become a "dead" planet?
Hopefully we find a planet to colonize in the future, and bring along a "Noah's Ark" of all organic lifeform from Earth. Only then, when we are among the stars (and no longer have 'all our eggs in one basket', will we ensure our continued existence.
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I think the plan is, since the US, Europe, China, and India all want bases on the Moon now, that the technitians manning those bases would get the job. Also, since we'll probably (HOPEFULLY) have more than a few days warning of the iminent destruction of all life on Earth we could send groups of men and women up to the Moon bases. They would come back when the world could be repopulated, and they'd grow new cows, chickens, goats, anchovies, and ring-tailed lemurs when they came back. I guess they'd need to bring some seeds for planting, too.
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It's a good idea, I guess, make a backup. But the trick with this is how to restore from your backup. If you keep your backup here on Earth, it's much easier to dig through the old DNA archive if some disease wipes out all chickens or something. But if you keep your archive on the Moon, then you're assuming a certain level of civilization back on Earth to be able to go up to the Moon and recover the material. If life on Earth was destroyed enough to need to get at that DNA, I don't think we'd have the resources to be able to reach it. New lifeforms would have evolved before we could make the journey.
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We are hardly able to get back to the Moon now without a catastrophe.
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If I were God, watching the way the most advanced, powerful societies on Earth go about ravaging those who have no defenses, :blink: I wouldn't be looking for a DNA backup...I'd be more inclined to reformat the whole disk.
But, problem is, Carson, the Earth can only handle two programs that are already running - archaebacter and eubacter (which becomes eukarya). I envisioned, besides a few national bases on the moon, a small facility empty of any surveillance whatsoever, and when something catastrophic does happen to all life on earth, there would be two people with a key, who each can unlock a mechanism that would boost the facility off the surface of the moon and onto earth. These two keyholders would always be on opposite sides of the planet, so if one is harmed or injured by the global catastrophe, the backup on the other side can activate the Facility booster, and it would crash onto earth much like a comet, and all the DNA would be unleashed onto the surface. Granted, it would take millions of years for my version of the plan to work, over time, but we cannot set up an entire biosphere on the moon that's exactly like the earth. If so, why go back to the earth at all?
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Even if we did have the technology and resources to do this, wed have to wait for the planets conditions to improve like dust in the atmosphere settling and the temperature to go back to normal (Im assuming its an asteroidthats the cause of the catastrophe) Thats not to mention that we dont have the technology and resources to get the DNA of every plant and creature on the planet. Can you or anyone catalogue all the billions, possibly trillions of species on the planet? No, didnt think so. Not only that, but you would need more than one specimen of DNA for each species (you need a male and female to reproduce, not counting asexual reproduction) Yeah, but its still a good backup plan; wed probably end up cataloguing the DNA of every species on the planet anyway.
Originally posted by John L@Sep 9 2004, 03:46 PM
I think the plan is, since the US, Europe, China, and India all want bases on the Moon now, that the technitians manning those bases would get the job. Also, since we'll probably (HOPEFULLY) have more than a few days warning of the iminent destruction of all life on Earth we could send groups of men and women up to the Moon bases. They would come back when the world could be repopulated, and they'd grow new cows, chickens, goats, anchovies, and ring-tailed lemurs when they came back. I guess they'd need to bring some seeds for planting, too.
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What a cracking idea for a sci-fi movie!!!
The Day After The Day After Tomorrow anyone???
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I doubt that anyone else in the world is more pro-space than myself. But, I read this article in Space.com earlier this morning and thought what an enormous stretch of a concept based on loosely lashing together topics of science currently in vogue.
This is a poor means to an end argument.
It would be far less expensive (and just alot of common sence) if we just took care of the environment we live in and made a ludicrous idea like this completely unnessary.
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Honestly, I would prefer it if we took care of our planet and never had to consider what would happen if it were turned into a cinderblock. Even so, so what about the cost of a genetic archive? What we're really talking about to make this really work is not bare DNA, but fertilized ova in liquid helium (bare DNA just WON'T do the trick by itself). I predict a fairly brisk trade into and out of this archive as colonization branches out and as animals are tested for adaptation in various environments (imagine, for instance, after significant terraforming effort, the first camel adapted to walk the sands of ....Venus).
Obviously, this won't happen soon, and the article that started this thread primarily serves as "Sunday Supplement" material, great stimulation without much result. Otherwise, this makes no less sense than any other breeding material storage plan designed to place viable offspring where they will most be needed. (Did I mention appropriate vessels to bring these ova to term? That requires a genetic FARM, not simply a bank).
I'll be interested in your replies. Thanks for reading.
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Honestly, if we can build sophisticated bases on the moon, then we can inhabit the earth no matter what happens to it and avoid being wiped out altogether.
If we can exist independent of a supporting environment on some self sufficient lunar base, what is to stop us from developing self sufficient closed cities on an asteroid blasted Earth? (Earth would be much easier to terraform than Mars, by the way). In fact, building such environmentally independent cities on the Earth should be radically easier than establishing space colonies because you have billions of people and quadrillions of (man*machine hours/hour) of industrial capacity already in place to throw up the defenses.
If we can build a space colonies, I wouldn't be worried about losing life on Earth. Besides, if we want to start DNA libraries, bunkers on Earth would do just as well as bunkers on the moon.
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Guess we have to work with the present technology in view of doomsday scenario, ASEI. Cities that can withstand explosion many times powerful than a nuclear bomb? Not a good idea. I have more questions than comments for this topic. With so many life forms, which ones should be preserve? surely, we cannot have them all in a DNAbank. If Earth would no longer be habitable forever, how much lifeforms(plants and animals) are required to support human life? For me, that's the whole point, continuity of human life I hope someone has the answer
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Yep, because unless it is a direct impact, the city won't have to deal with massive forces - just wind and dust storms in the worst case. The energy of the forces involved falls off with the distance squared.ASEI. Cities that can withstand explosion many times powerful than a nuclear bomb? Not a good idea.
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Many excellent points, ASEI!!In fact, building such environmentally independent cities on the Earth should be radically easier than establishing space colonies
This premise is along the lines I have been working towards, to make the design and operation of habitats and communities more similar, so we can apply the techniques here on Earth right away and benefit from them.
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I find myself in total agreement with ASEI. If we had the technology sufficient to build "DNA banks" on the Moon then we could build them here on Earth & all those billions of money could be used to make them deeper & stronger (after all an asteroid might wipe out life on the surface but it is unlikely to make the planet explode in a billion pieces!Originally posted by ASEI@Sep 14 2004, 03:22 AM
Honestly, if we can build sophisticated bases on the moon, then we can inhabit the earth no matter what happens to it and avoid being wiped out altogether.
If we can exist independent of a supporting environment on some self sufficient lunar base, what is to stop us from developing self sufficient closed cities on an asteroid blasted Earth? (Earth would be much easier to terraform than Mars, by the way). In fact, building such environmentally independent cities on the Earth should be radically easier than establishing space colonies because you have billions of people and quadrillions of (man*machine hours/hour) of industrial capacity already in place to throw up the defenses.
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find myself in total agreement with ASEI. If we had the technology sufficient to build "DNA banks" on the Moon then we could build them here on Earth & all those billions of money could be used to make them deeper & stronger (after all an asteroid might wipe out life on the surface but it is unlikely to make the planet explode in a billion pieces!
One word: plague. An engineered pandemic COULD wipe out all of class mammalia, for instance. It's a lot easier to isolate from a plague if you're on the moon. People living on Earth will NOT put up with living in sealed environments all the time.
Oh, really...ever heard of Crichton's The Andromeda Strain? <_<It's a lot easier to isolate from a plague if you're on the moon.
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