image source, Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Caption,
This is the entrance to the “doomsday vault”, the World Seed Bank in Svalbard, Norway.
On a remote island called Spitsbergen, in the arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, a sandstone mountain shelters an apocalyptic place 120 meters inside: theworld’s largest seed deposit.
About 1,300 km from the North Pole and 130 meters above sea level, the thick permafrost -the permanent frozen layer of ice that surrounds the vault- helps preserve the hundreds of thousands of seed samples stored inside.
The place is also ideal for this task due to its lack of seismic activity.
However, although the seeds have been stored as safely as possible since the bunker was opened in 2008, there is no humane way to verify this.
The permafrost makes it possible to preserve the hundreds of thousands of seeds stored inside the vault.
This seed bunker can be vital to conserve, in the event of a major global disaster, a crop reserve that guarantees the restoration of species, and that we human beings do not lack food.
Each country saves its own vital seeds for its food production, but the Svalbard World Seed Bank is a sort of global backer.
2. Queimada Grande Island: a poisonous island
Ilha da Queimada Grande, known as Ilha das Cobras (island of the cobras), is a small rocky, wild island, without beaches and difficult to access, located 35 km off the coast of São Paulo.
The island was discovered in 1532 by the colonizing expedition of Martim Afonso de Souza.
However, the history of Ilha das Cobras is much older. It was formed at the end of the last ice age, regarding 11,000 years ago, when the sea level rose, separating the hill (which was part of the Serra do Mar) from the mainland and turning it into an island.
It has attracted attention in the last five centuries for an unusual feature: it is inhabited almost exclusively by snakes: there are estimates that say there may be between one and five snakes for every square meter of the island.
The golden spearhead only exists on this island off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil.
Is the second largest concentration of snakes by area in the world: regarding 45 per hectare, roughly equivalent to the size of a soccer field – a figure second only to Shedao Island in China.
But on the Brazilian island, a species of highly venomous snake differentiated itself from its terrestrial relatives and became the golden spear head (Bothrops insularis) a kind of pit viper endemic to Queimada Grande.
It is so deadly that a single bite is enough to prevent the birds it feeds on from taking flight once more.
“The viper’s venom is more toxic to birds than to mammals,” biologist Marcelo Ribeiro Duarte, from the Butantan Institute’s Zoological Collections Laboratory, explained to BBC Brazil. “That proves the great adaptability of the species.”
The Bothrops insularis measure between half a meter and one meterthe females being slightly larger.
Unlike the continental species from Brazil, this snake is smaller and less heavy and has a more elastic skin.
“As the fauna of the island is very scarce, without rodents or other mammals (except for bats), the adults of the species feed on migratory birds (the resident birds are not predated),” the researcher told BBC Brazil. and specialist in poisonous animals Vidal Haddad Júnior, from the Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu.
“The young specimens eat lizards, amphibians and arthropods, such as centipedes, for example.”
the brazilian government prohibited anyone from stepping on the islandAs a precautionary measure.
The only exception to this rule are some researchers, who in order to visit it must be accompanied at all times by a doctor and follow strict protocols.
In any case, this remote 43-hectare island off the coast of São Paulo does not seem like the most desirable vacation destination.
3. Lascaux: the French cave that contains valuable art
This cave in Montignac, in southwestern France, is a replica of Lascaux. The original closed to the public in 1963.
Four teenagers looking for a dog that had disappeared through a hole in the ground discovered this wonderful cave in the south of France In 1940.
In the most surprising of accidents, their dog led them to a cave covered in wall paintings depicting animals such as horses and deer.
Dating back some 17,000 years, it was one of the best-preserved examples of prehistoric art ever discovered, with around 600 paintings and 1.000 engravings in total.
image source, Universal History Archive/Getty Images
Caption,
The Lascaux paintings are fascinating.
When the discovery was made, World War II was raging.
Eight years later, the Lascaux cave was opened to the curious public who wanted to see the work of their ancestors up close.
In 1963 the visits were suspended al public. Mold had sprouted on the cave walls, threatening the preservation of the artwork that had existed in airtight conditions before its discovery.
Nearly 60 years later, the cave is still largely off limits to the public, although a replica was built nearby for tourists to visit.
The Lascaux replica was inaugurated in 1983, the year this photograph was taken.
4. Uluru: the “navel of the world”
Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, was a tourist attraction for many years, but was recently added to the list of places that the public cannot visit.
Also called the “navel of the world”, it is one of the largest monoliths on the planet.
Previously, visitors might attempt the 348-meter ascent to the summit, though that meant facing a extreme heat, with summer temperatures around 47 degrees Celsius.
The steep climb to the top might also cause difficulties. But, for many, the beauty of the place made up for it.
image source, Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Caption,
Uluru’s 2013.
Uluru is a place sacred to the anangu indigenous aborigines who are the custodians of the rock and wanted visitors to stop climbing it out of respect for their traditions.
That wish was unanimously backed by a petition from the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board, which made the decision to bar people from setting foot on Uluru in 2017.
October 25, 2019 was the last day people were allowed to climb the rock before the ban went into effect. Long queues of tourists formed.
image source, SAEED KHAN/Getty Images
Caption,
For the local Aboriginal people (and traditional inhabitants), the red monolith of Uluru is a sacred place.
In Anangu culture, Uluru is evidence that celestial beings came to Earth when it was still formless and lifeless. They traveled through it, creating living species and forms, such as Uluru, along the way.
Visitors can still visit Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. But the sacred rock yescan only be observednever step or climb.
Many tourists do not repress the opportunity to take the snapshot from the air.
image source, James D. Morgan/Getty Images
Caption,
Some planes fly over near Uluru in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.
image source, Getty Images
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