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How to build something that lasts 10k years

bbc.com

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Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#21

Post by justinclift »

aetherspawn wrote: post #13
ptah wrote: post #9

If you can somehow come up with a way to keep time using a forest, it would be way easier

That’s a really interesting idea. If you plant a tree that lasts for 10,000 years (is there such?), I wonder if you can use its height or the shadow it casts (trunk thickness) to measure time. Of course, someone would just come and kill it. Unless you can make it undesirable to get close to it.. for example fill it with thousands of snakes and spiders.

Count time via its genome, such that further generations increase the count?

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#22

Post by jrootabega »

Causality1 wrote: post #14

This is an admirable project but realistically speaking, six weeks after it's no longer being visited every day some 4channer is going to hike out, break it with a hammer, and then draw dicks on it.

They thought of that, the clock is almost completely made of hammers and dicks.

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#23

Post by jpalomaki »

onion2k wrote: post #3
newman8r wrote: post #2

the lazy man's way to make something that will last thousands(or more) years: dry stone masonry. I've built a few walls, they're not going anywhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

The mechanical stability of a drystone wall is amazing, but the political stability of the border it represents is very, very fragile. It won't fall over but someone might knock it down. That's the problem the Long Now clock might have solved - it's been marketed as a symbol of human persistence. People are being persuaded that it's important. We maintain our symbolic icons. That political stability is what might kee…

Could you get a space vehicle on a trajectory that brings it close to earth only every 1000 - 10000 years?

Add there some mechanism that draws attention and transmits it’s message through radio. Would it be doable to have some primitive electronics that would survive so long?

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#24

Post by monsieurbanana »

arethuza wrote: post #17
newman8r wrote: post #2

the lazy man's way to make something that will last thousands(or more) years: dry stone masonry. I've built a few walls, they're not going anywhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_stone

5000+ year old dry stone houses complete with dry stone furniture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skara_Brae Edit: And if you want to go that extra step with your dry stone walls, melt them in place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort

In the wikipedia article about vitrified forts they say the heat actually weakens the structure.

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#25

Post by arethuza »

monsieurbanana wrote: post #24
arethuza wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5000+ year old dry stone houses complete with dry stone furniture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skara_Brae Edit: And if you want to go that extra step with your dry stone walls, melt them in place: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitrified_fort

In the wikipedia article about vitrified forts they say the heat actually weakens the structure.

Yeah - I didn't mean to suggest it was a good step - they just seem stupendously mysterious sites (I grew up fairly near one and was always fascinated by it).

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#26

Post by aetherspawn »

justinclift wrote: post #21
aetherspawn wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a really interesting idea. If you plant a tree that lasts for 10,000 years (is there such?), I wonder if you can use its height or the shadow it casts (trunk thickness) to measure time. Of course, someone would just come and kill it. Unless you can make it undesirable to get close to it.. for example fill it with thousands of snakes and spiders.

Count time via its genome, such that further generations increase the count?

That’s a good idea but you’d need a visible characteristic.

Because future humans may lose the ability to see the count in the genome .. or just forget it exists and never notice it.

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#27

Post by ForHackernews »

aetherspawn wrote: post #13
ptah wrote: post #9

If you can somehow come up with a way to keep time using a forest, it would be way easier

That’s a really interesting idea. If you plant a tree that lasts for 10,000 years (is there such?), I wonder if you can use its height or the shadow it casts (trunk thickness) to measure time. Of course, someone would just come and kill it. Unless you can make it undesirable to get close to it.. for example fill it with thousands of snakes and spiders.

> is there such?

Yes, there are colonies of quaking aspen trees that are estimated to be 80,000 years old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pando_(tree)

(except human activity is killing it today)

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#28

Post by throwaway66666 »

vincnetas wrote: post #10

Finland is building nuclear waste storage facility which is planned to last for 100.000 years. There are quite few interesting design decisions to be made taking this lifespan in to account, for example if current civilization will be wiped out, what symbols you should put on a door to discourage someone in future to opening the door. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onkalo_spent_nuclear_fuel_repo... https://www.youtube…

>what symbols you should put on a door to discourage someone in future to opening the door.

Vaguely reminds me a bit of the curses egyptians wrote in the entrances of the Pharaoh's tombs. Basically cursing trespassers for life. This is a realer version of that. Deeply interesting.

Re: How to build something that lasts 10k years

#29

Post by abdullahkhalids »

aetherspawn wrote: post #13
ptah wrote: post #9

If you can somehow come up with a way to keep time using a forest, it would be way easier

That’s a really interesting idea. If you plant a tree that lasts for 10,000 years (is there such?), I wonder if you can use its height or the shadow it casts (trunk thickness) to measure time. Of course, someone would just come and kill it. Unless you can make it undesirable to get close to it.. for example fill it with thousands of snakes and spiders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest-living_organis...

As far as we know, there are a few clonal plant colonies that have survived longer than 10K years. No individual plants have quite made it to 10K, but some have made it past 2-3K years.

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