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Scientists Propose Lunar ‘Noah’s Ark’ to Preserve DNA of Endangered Species (gizmodo.com)

submitted 1 month ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

20 comments fedilink hide all child comments

An idea worth pursuing I guess. My first question: in case this gets forgotten about in the distant future, how could it be marked so there's a good chance of being found?

(Link to the AIBS journal article which inspired the question: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biae058/7715645?login=false )

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Svalbard's a 'seed vault' only, there must be something for extinct animal species. Another question I thought of: if stored on the moon, who among the finders will know enough to even know that they're looking at? let alone to make purposeful use of it?

[–] threelonmusketeers 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yeah, if it is intended to be used by a different society than the one who set it up, it will be difficult to communicate what it is or how to use it. Sounds like a more difficult version making a "nuclear waste buried here, do not dig" sign, and we haven't come up with a surefire solution to that puzzle.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

I feel like this one would be easier than the nuclear waste site. You don't need to signal an intent, nor protect the site from non technological societies. Just include a picture of the archived organism. They will eventually figure it out.

I assume the hypothetical future society would share the same evolutionary tree as us. It's pretty unlikely that any series of events would eradicate ALL forms of life on earth, forcing the evolution to basically start again, using entirely different processes and building blocks.

Now storing such archive on a celestial body famous for its massive craters and the lack of radiation protection is entirely different problem.