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September 6, 2008 1:38:00 AM CDT

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Norway Builds Doomsday Vault for World Seeds

Posted Sep 22, 07 12:28 PM CDT in Science & Health,  World 

(Newser) – Norway has built a giant vault under an Arctic mountain, where it will preserve seeds from 21 of the world's essential crops in case disaster strikes. The so-called doomsday vault will eventually store 4.5 million seeds from crops such as wheat and rice to use in the wake of a global catastrophe, be it a typhoon or nuclear strike, Reuters reports.

The vault is in the remote town of Longyearbyen, about 600 miles from the North Pole. Norway will own and maintain it, but all nations can contribute and have access to the seeds. "This is like a safety deposit box, like in a bank, where you put your valuables," said a  member of the group organizing the seed collection.

Source Reuters

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