The origin of the project stems from a dream Huibers said he had in 1992, in which the low-lying Netherlands was flooded by the North Sea.

CNN: Dutchman builds replica Noah's Ark after flood dream

Only a few outsiders have been allowed a peak at the project, which Bezos calls Blue Origin.

NPR: Tech Tycoons' Dream: My Own Private Spaceship

One IGCP project in 2000 was even at the origin of a new field: medical geology, the science dealing with the impact of our natural environment on human and animal health.

UNESCO: Open Access to Scientific Information