Scientists are planning a modern day "Noah's Ark registry" of all of Earth's 1.8 million known species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth It will be called the Encyclopedia of Life and will include species descriptions, pictures, maps, videos, sound, sightings by amateurs, and links to scientific journal papers. It is a colossal undertaking and is expected to take ten years to complete and fill about 300 million pages.The encyclopedia is being set up at eol.org. Check out the interesting video at their website. This project has been launched by a consortium of the universities and museums. After it is completed, it will be made available freely to anyone with an internet connection, and will be the most comprehensive repository of life as we know it.
This endeavor is the dream of renowned biologist, E. O. Wilson who recently won this year's TED prize. Check out the video of his speech at the TED Conference.
