What if a backup for humanity was on the Moon? Well, that might just be the plan. Scientists want to create a repository on the Moon to preserve biological material from Earth. The temperature of the Moon and the overall stability of the sphere make it an ideal option for long-term storage, especially as conditions on Earth continue to change rapidly.
Lunar Safe
Earth's organisms could potentially be preserved in chambers on the moon, says a paper published in the journal Nature. Bioscience“We propose a passive lunar biorepository for the long-term storage of prioritized cryopreserved live sample taxa to protect terrestrial biodiversity and support future space exploration and planetary terrestrialization,” the study authors wrote.
Some species on Earth extinction By Climate Change Through human action and human effort, lunar preservation may be the way to save them. “Initially, the Lunar Biorepository will focus on the most endangered species on Earth, but our ultimate goal is to cryopreserve most species on Earth,” said Mary Hagedorn, lead author of the paper. statement.
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The specimens will be preserved through a process called cryopreservation, which “preserves biological material (such as sperm, cells or embryos) in a live frozen state and uses extreme cold to enable them to be thawed for future use,” according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.New Zealand CBI).
Plant specimens can be preserved in Arctic temperatures, but animal specimens require much colder temperatures of at least -320 degrees Fahrenheit or -196 degrees Celsius. Such temperatures would be difficult and expensive to achieve on Earth, so the Moon may be a better option: the Moon's poles contain permanently shadowed craters where temperatures can drop to -410 degrees Fahrenheit (-246 degrees Celsius), ideal for preserving specimens.
Shooting in the dark
The Moon's temperatures are much colder, so biological specimens are likely safer there. The biorepository idea is modeled after the Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, which is located in the Arctic Circle and has been hit by floods in the area. Temperatures rise The seeds were at risk when floods occurred in 2017. “If people hadn't been there, the flooding could have damaged the biorepository,” Hagedorn said. Guardian“The idea of having a really secure, passive biological repository to protect Earth's biodiversity seems like a really good idea.” In a broader sense, “located about 238,000 miles (384,000 km) from Earth, the Moon is protected from unpredictable natural and geopolitical disasters that could befall Earth,” the NZCBI said.
Of course, a lunar biorepository is not without challenges. The logistics of creating a safe repository on the moon's surface come with obstacles like space radiation and zero gravity; the frozen samples still need to be studied for these factors. And some worry that a project of this scale could shift priorities. “A big concern is that the cost and effort involved in setting up such a resource on the moon would be so enormous that it would interfere with ongoing conservation efforts, such as implementing existing international conservation commitments and plans,” said Rob Brooker, head of ecology at the James Hutton Institute in Scotland. CNN.
The biorepository could also give humanity an additional option: “It could help offset natural hazards and potentially augment space travel,” Hagedorn said. “Life is precious and, as far as we know, rare in space. This biorepository offers another, parallel approach to protecting Earth's precious biodiversity.”
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