Lately, we’ve been writing so much about Mars that we’ve almost forgotten about another familiar, familiar face in the sky: the moon. Our constant companion, the subject of poetry, music and whole religions throughout the history of mankind. In 2021, scientists looked at our sweet sister in the solar system and thought, “Man, you can use a little jizz.”
Well, sparks and eggs, but eggs aren’t that much fun.
It’s a serious science, so you know it’s going to be really amazing and depressing. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) held its annual aerospace conference over the weekend. One of the presentations came from the University of Arizona and was entitled: “Lunar graves and lava tubes for a modern arkThe presentation states that we are willing to store a catalog of Earth plant seeds on a remote Arctic island. ours do precious body fluids receive similar treatment?
From Vici:
[…] the conclusion of their proposal is that they want to build a bank of sperm under the dusty regulation of the lunar surface, for their custody.
This “insurance policy” for the future of humanity and all species on Earth would be a repository of reproductive cells, including sperm and eggs. They propose that the bank could act like a ark, like the seed return to Svalbard now, in case of catastrophe.
[…]
The plans of the University of Arizona team for a cell wardrobe of sperm and eggs are to store the cells inside lunar pits. The moon is marked with 200 of these pits, which are 80 to 100 meters deep, where lava used to flow through the moon. They can protect against dramatic changes in temperature, asteroids or radiation.
See? Sending sperm to the moon only makes good ecological sense. The team was unclear what genetic material would reach the Moon, but I have a modest proposal.
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The team behind the Modern Ark concept is no slow either. Jekan Thanga, who introduced the team, leads the SpaceTerrestrial Robotic Exploration Laboratory (SpaceTREx) and the ASTEROIDS Laboratory (Asteroid Science, Technology and Exploration Research Organized by Inclusive eDucation Systems) at the University of Arizona . He reminded his audience that sending genetic material to the moon not only is it fun for the world’s immature bloggers, but it could be vital to biodiversity in the event of a major catastrophe or simply old climate change.
The whole reason we have to consider sending human and animal sperm and eggs to the moon is that the Earth is an increasingly risky place for life, thanks mainly to us humans. From the video description of the talk:
It would serve as a global insurance policy. Earth faces the likelihood of danger from various natural disasters and human threats such as world nuclear war that could wipe out a large number of species in no time. Lunar lava tubes were discovered in 2013 and are likely to have remained immaculate for 3-4 billion years. They are only 4-5 days from Earth. They are an excellent refuge against changes in lunar surface temperature, cosmic radiation and micro-meteorites.
Humans could make the Earth so unlivable that life’s only hope would be to hide in underground tunnels on the barren moon. See? I knew we could turn something as rock and roll as a block about sperm into the moon into something depressing. Science!