Even nature needs a backup plan… Jan 30, 2021

Even nature needs a backup plan…

This glittering concrete monolith is a lot like that still-sealed emergency survival kit languishing in your basement since 1999: Reassuring to have around, but a bummer when you actually have to use it. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault—better known by its cute nickname, the "Doomsday Vault"—was established on this far-northern Norwegian isle in 2008 to archive frozen genetic copies of seeds already housed in seed banks around the world: a backup of all the backups. Kept at minus 0.4 degrees F within the seed vault, precious botanicals from food to fibers to flowers are safe from disasters, even of the apocalyptic variety. Lucky us: It"ll take a healthy diet of veggies to fight off the zombies.

© Pal Hermansen/Minden Pictures

palette

Today in History

Jan 30, 2018Watson Lake in Granite Dells, Arizona
Jan 30, 2019Embracing the cold
Jan 30, 2020The Pearl of Siberia
Jan 30, 2022Halo around the sun
Jan 30, 2023Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships
Jan 30, 2024Aýna, Albacete, Spain
Jan 30, 2025La Brecha de Rolando (Rolands Breach), Spain
Jan 30, 2026St. Michaels Mount in Marazion, Cornwall, England

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Nov 21, 20222022 FIFA World Cup
Jan 10, 2018Weaverbird nests at Kenya’s Samburu National Reserve
Oct 21, 2023International Archaeology Day
Apr 26, 2023Great horned owl fledglings
May 24, 2024European Day of Parks
Apr 30, 2023International Jazz Day
Oct 25, 2023Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
Oct 23, 2018Of moles and liquid nitrogen
Jul 20, 2022National Moon Day
Sep 16, 2021A cry for independence
Oct 15, 2020A star is borne by seaweed
Jul 6, 2018Pandas pucker up for International Kissing Day
Oct 2, 2025Oxbow Bend on the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
Mar 2, 2026Harbor and longtail boats at Ko Samui, Thailand
Nov 15, 2024Yi Peng lantern festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand
May 13, 2024Fish River Canyon, Namibia
Jan 23, 2018Lençóis Maranhenses National Park in Brazil
Nov 22, 2025Leshan Giant Buddha, Sichuan, China
Oct 10, 2020Birds of a feather
Nov 30, 2025Christmas market in Leipzig, Germany
Jul 29, 2020Góða ólavsøku, from the Faroes!
Aug 27, 2024Young black caiman, Tambopata National Reserve, Peru
Jun 13, 2019A unique elephant encounter in Nantes
Sep 17, 2025A young bull moose in Denali National Park, Alaska
Jul 16, 2020Summertime in Alaska
Feb 6, 2023Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
Sep 20, 2018May we have this dance?
Nov 7, 2019Paris is photo-ready this week
Nov 12, 2019Sleep tight, little hedgehog
Dec 12, 2019On the lookout for Sheep-Cote Clod