Scientists want to build a sperm bank on the moon

Scientists have begun making plans for reconstruction, starting with a sperm bank on the moon.

What they call “modern global insurance”, mechanical engineers have suggested that humans create a repository of reproductive cells (sperm and eggs) of 6.7 million species on earth, including humans.

And the proposed bench, or “sheet,” would lie beneath the surface of the moon.

As our planet faces natural disasters, droughts, asteroids and the potential for nuclear war, to name a few problems, scientists say humans need to look at space travel to preserve life as we know it.

“Earth is naturally a volatile environment,” said study author Jekan Thanga, whose team at the University of Arizona presented his report, “Lunar Wells and Lava Tubes for a Modern Ark,” at the annual Institute of Electrical Engineers and Electronic (IEEE). . Space Conference on Saturday.

Due to the instability of the planet, he said, a deposit on Earth would leave the samples vulnerable. As such, Thanga aimed to drive a kind of planetary emigration by founding a human seed vault on the moon as soon as possible. It would store reproductive cells in newly discovered lunar “wells” that scientists believe lava once flowed billions of years ago.

The so-called “sheet”, according to Thanga’s presentation, would then cryogenically preserve different species in the event of a global catastrophe. “We can still save them until technology evolves, and then reintroduce these species, in other words, save them for another day,” he said.

The wells are also the perfect size for storing cells, according to Thanga. They fall 80 to 100 meters below the ground and “provide a prefabricated shelter from the moon’s surface”, which can withstand “large temperature changes”, as well as threats from meteorites and radiation.

Thanga said many plants and animals were “seriously endangered” and cited Indonesia’s Mount Toba eruption 75,000 years ago as a cause for concern, saying it “triggered a 1,000-year cooling-off period and, according to some, is consistent with an estimated fall. ” in human diversity. “He sees a current parallel” due to human activity and other factors that we do not fully understand, “he said, adding that” there have already been rapid losses in recent decades. “

The concept of “sheet” is already used in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, ie which houses plant seeds, on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen in the Arctic Circle, where researchers say that the enormous stone structure it can withstand, undisturbed by humans or elements. . exist more than 992,000 unique samples, each with an average of 500 seeds.

Thanga added that he was “surprised” at how “profitable” the assignment could be, according to his “back of an envelope”. To transport 50 samples of every [6.7 million target] species would need 250 rocket launches. In comparison, it took 40 launches to build the International Space Station, which is in a low earth orbit, much closer than the moon.

“It’s not incredibly big,” Thanga insisted. “We were a little surprised.”

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