Seed capital

 

 

As part of a global effort to maintain biodiversity in the event of a global catastrophe, researchers are putting the seeds from many flowering plants and trees to ‘sleep’. This state is called suspended animation and the seed can be `woken up’ and planted as and when needed. The important thing here, is to ensure that seeds are collected at exactly the right time–when they are just about ready to fall off the plant. The seeds will be stored in a ‘seed vault’ at the remote island of Svalbard in Norway– chosen to ensure the temperature doesn’t rise above freezing, even if all cooling fails.