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"We each live in a somewhat unique world of our own psychological content."
- Philip K. Dick
 |
| Genetic Ark | ||
| Enormous, multi-habitat enclosed spaces, used to conserve the animal gene pool. |
In a world of catastrophic climate change, is it even possible to prevent the loss of thousands of species?
| Pauline gestured into the vast atrium of London Ark, with its tier upon tier of enclosed, artificial habitats. The huge edifice of hanging gardens and meticulously regulated environments was a far cry from its origins in the old Regent's Park Zoo. And it was only one out of almost a hundred such structures, scattered all over the world. |
| From Earth,
by David Brin. Published by Bantam in 1990 Additional resources -
|
You could argue that this idea is already present in many zoos, since there are a number of zoological organizations that participate in conservation efforts. However, Brin is suggesting something else.
See this story on the Doomsday Vault, a real-life genetic ark for agricultural diversity.
Compare Brin's idea with the life bank from John Varley's 1977 novel The Ophiuchi Hotline.
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Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
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'The car surged and lifted, clearing its top by a negligible margin.'
Science fiction authors are serious about sleep, too.
'I had explained," said Nessus, "that our civilisation was dying in its own waste heat.'
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do? - any work a human being does around a house.'
SF writers have thought about this since the 19th century.
There's a lesson in this for neural net AI engineers everywhere.
