Seed bank

Better tomorrow

It’s a scary thought to even wonder what it would be like if doomsday were here. But the Norwegian government believes in keeping a back-up plan ready. They have built Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is a high-tech facility that has been carved into a mountainside on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. For instance, if there were a global catastrophe, seed banks like these would ensure that humans could again grow the crops that are essential for survival. But this bank serves another purpose as well. Every day certain crops become extinct. The crops stored in the vault are the raw genetic materials needed for breeders to enable global crops to survive droughts, pests and other conditions. In other words, this bank can halt the process of extinction of crops.

Frog fun

Bike crazy

It would be great if you had a pet that could ride a bike, or help you win the national lottery, right? Well, Tongsai Boommrungtai from Thailand actually owns a frog that does all that. In fact, the neighbours claim that they would find the lottery numbers on the frog’s skin. Ten of them even won the national lottery. As for Nong Oui, the frog, it likes to chill out on its Harley Davidson, or a battery operated dumper truck. And it loves to strike a pose. Check out the photograph if you don’t believe us!