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I'm so grateful this exists. Just in case we destroy everything. It helps me sleep at night. Tucked away deep in the permafrost of Norway lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is the ultimate backup for humanity's agricultural legacy. So many of our agricultural seeds are now extinct. But thanks to this project's forethought, we can rest a little deeper knowing that so many varieties from across the world are stored securely for future generations. As of June 2021, the Seed Vault protects 1 million different crop samples, preserving more than 13,000 years of humanity's agricultural history. And it has the capacity to hold 4.5 million seed samples (500 seeds in each sample) or 2.25 billion seeds in total. The room is kept at -18ºF / -27ºC with limited oxygen to slow the seed's metabolic activity and preserve its germination capabilities. And the building's design, deep in the permafrost, ensures that even with an electrical failure, the vault would maintain a low temperature and keep the seeds safe for decades. Most of the seeds stored are grains (70%), but the vault does contain some hallucinogenic plants, such as cannabis and opium amongst other rarer plants. And recently, Indigenous groups have started contributing, In 2015, representatives from Parque de la Papa in Peru deposited 750 samples of potatoes. In 2020, the Cherokee Nation became the first US tribe to contribute to the vault, adding nine samples of heirloom food crops that predate European contact. Whatever the future holds, I'm hopeful that we, as a collective humanity, will see the value in preserving the long legacy of agricultural seeds. One day they might be our saving grace.