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New 'Book of Life' »

Posted by: Spadecaller 1 year, 10 months ago

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The first 30,000 pages have been unveiled of a vast encyclopedia which aims to catalogue every one of our planet's 1.8 million species. The online resource is designed to enhance our understanding of the world's diminishing biodiversity. The sprawling database could help scientists assess the impact of climate change on animals and plants.

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Spadecaller

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Spadecaller
Feb. 26, 2008, 6:56 a.m.
The new online resource "may also help foster strategies for slowing the spread of invasive species and allow the spread of disease to be tracked."
Are human beings listed among the invasive species?
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gamahuche
Feb. 26, 2008, 8:26 a.m.
Marvellous post SC!
I love these projects which preserve information.
Sometimes we may have no idea what will be important to know in 50 or 100 years time but it will be there!
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Jaydee40
Feb. 26, 2008, 9:36 a.m.
Sound like it's all information that was published before but now all available under one roof so to speek. Should be a fantastic tool for students world wide.
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Spadecaller
Feb. 26, 2008, 9:42 a.m.
Just looking at the disappearing species and the time line for their extinction or endangerment would shed light on much of the politicization that has been waged against science and is seriously damaging our ability to conserve and protect the earth's resources.
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dexlovex2
Feb. 26, 2008, 10:09 a.m.
After completion in 2017 there will always be more species to add to the encyclopedia, for we are finding new ones all the time.
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Spadecaller
Feb. 26, 2008, 5:59 p.m.
"New" species or "newly discovered" species?
If it's the former, we are getting into Darwin's natural selection through positive mutation ... the basis of evolutionary differentiation.
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aceofspades1
Feb. 26, 2008, 7:23 p.m.
1.8 mil entries? if I read one every 10 seconds during a 40 hour week, it will take me 2 1/2 years to read the whole thing -- don't bother me from Jan 2017 until June 2019.
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canadianrancher57
Feb. 26, 2008, 8:14 p.m.
I like the idea but I think it would also be a good idea to collect The DNA of all species as well. I think they are doing this with some endangered species of plants. I wonder if we had the DNA of different species would we be able to clone then at a later time. The reason I brought this point up is because a little kid told me the other day that giraffes no longer excist because he had been to the zoo and not seen one.