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" I sometimes suspect that we're seeing something in the Internet as significant as the birth of cities. It's really something new, it's a new kind of civilization."
- William Gibson
 |
| Genetic Ark | ||
| Enormous, multi-habitat enclosed spaces, used to conserve the animal gene pool. |
In a world of catastrophic climate change, is it even possible to prevent the loss of thousands of species?
| Pauline gestured into the vast atrium of London Ark, with its tier upon tier of enclosed, artificial habitats. The huge edifice of hanging gardens and meticulously regulated environments was a far cry from its origins in the old Regent's Park Zoo. And it was only one out of almost a hundred such structures, scattered all over the world. |
| Technovelgy from Earth,
by David Brin. Published by Bantam in 1990 Additional resources -
|
You could argue that this idea is already present in many zoos, since there are a number of zoological organizations that participate in conservation efforts. However, Brin is suggesting something else.
See this story on the Doomsday Vault, a real-life genetic ark for agricultural diversity.
Compare Brin's idea with the life bank from John Varley's 1977 novel The Ophiuchi Hotline.
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'Their only check on the growth and development of Vulcan 3 lay in two clues: the amount of rock thrown up to the surface... and the amount of the raw materials and tools and parts which the computer requested.'
'I guess there's nobody round this table who doesn't have a Crosswell [tapeworm] working for him in the small intestine.'
'Figments of his mind in one sense, of course, for he had shaped them...'
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'...nurse drones that would cruise around dumping large amounts of power into randomly selected pods.'
'It's done with a flip of the third joint of the tentacle on the down beat.'
'...for months Grantline bores had dug into the cliff.'
'I hope all those other cars are on automatic,' he said anxiously.
'It’s smart enough to go wrong in very complicated ways, but not smart enough to help us find out what’s wrong.'
