Gizmodo: seeds

Bloom Bicycle Attachment Seeds the World With Pedal Power, Bubbles

Jack Loftus — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EDT

No, this is not an exhaust pipe for your bike (that'd be silly). It's Bloom, the pedal-powered, environmentally friendly attachment that produces seed-filled bubbles meant to transform concrete jungles into lush forests. Using nothing but the wind, a seed pellet, and a little vegetable based soapy water, the Bloom disperses bubbles into the cracks and crevices of our congested cityscape. Then nature takes over and the seedlings mature into vegetation, which is promptly exterminated by the department of public works. Just kidding. This is actually a pretty ingenious idea when you see how it works, and is one of many from Design 21's "Power to the Pedal" design competition.

[Design 21]

A Peek Inside the Doomsday Seed Vault

Mark Wilson — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:10:00 EDT

Remember that incredible Svalbard Global Seed Vault we told you about? It protects the Earth's plants for when aliens blow up our civilization so that they too can enjoy the natural decadence of fried plantains (that are generously fertilized by our decaying corpses). 60 Minutes got a peek inside the vault, and it's pretty neat stuff. Here's a 3-minute clip exploring the ice fortress:

[AOL via digg]

Svalbard Global Seed Vault Scoffs at Nuclear Winter

Mark Wilson — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:10:37 EST

We rarely get excited about seeds here on Giz, but the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway is a remarkably daunting structure that looks looks like the lair lovechild of Batman's cave and Superman's ~~snow cave~~ fortress of solitude.

Designed to protect 100 million of the world's seeds through fortified concrete and the surrounding mountainous landmass, the Global Seed Vault is prepared to withstand nuclear missile attacks and keep our plants' genetic codes safe. And while the plan is all well and good, if I'm anywhere near Longyearbyen when the sky rains radioactive fire, Man will be losing a few species of plants to prevent my seeds from dropping like acorns. [belowtheclouds via geekologie]