Scientists at the University of Southampton have created a 5D memory crystal that can store the entire human genome for billions of years. This amazing technology could help revive extinct species in the distant future, as it can hold tons of data without degrading, even in extreme conditions. The crystal is super tough, able to withstand heat, cold, and impact, and it includes visual clues to help future finders understand its contents. Essentially, it’s like a time capsule for our genetic information that could last long after we’re gone.
Whose genome would you pick as the human exemplar? In other words, after the human race has become extinct, which one individual would you use to repopulate humanity?
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Too late for Arthur Mullard and Hylda Baker I suppose. Shame.
Only one man up to the task, Michael Appleton,
no ifs, no buts.
Humanity would stand a decent chance.
I’ve never understood humanity’s obsession with resurrecting extinct species. Around 99.9% of all species have naturally gone extinct—it’s a fundamental part of evolution. Without it, we wouldn’t even exist.
This makes me wonder: how do we really measure the success of life? Many would point to humanity as evolution’s pinnacle, but that's bollocks. In the grand scheme, humanity might rank far lower than we think.
Then there’s the question of interstellar communication. With trillions of stars and planets, if life exists elsewhere, why haven’t we received any signals? One simple method would be to use the central star in a system as a beacon, pulsing it like Morse code—a primitive alternative to the Dyson Sphere concept. Though we lack the technology, we might achieve it in a few centuries. But none of the stars we observe are blinking, which leads me to think that truly successful species might not be looking up at all, or they’re only here for the briefest blip in time.