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They might be aware of the dangers of radiation in the abstract, but they might not be able to read our current marking systems to learn that there is a specifi
by twright0 10y ago
They might be aware of the dangers of radiation in the abstract, but they might not be able to read our current marking systems to learn that there is a specific threat from radiation at that specific location. 10,000 years is a very long time to try to preserve information across.
- aninhumer 10y agoIf the culture is advanced there are ways we could express the concept of radiation without needing a common language. There are a lot of innate scientific patterns to draw on, like the structure of an atom, the periodic table or a mushroom cloud.
- grkvlt 10y agoA mushroom cloud just connotes a large explosion near the ground. Atomic structure may be the best to go with, since pictorial descriptions of alpha, beta and gamma radiation are found in every high-school science textbook. One issue with an advanced culture is that they may be rebuilding to the same technological state as we were around 1950, so when they find the site they go: "Cool, radioactive stuff! Might be Uranium! Just what we need to fuel our fission reactors..." Then, they discover it's merely low-level waste after building an enormous open-cast mine on the site, and polluting the countryside for miles around. I believe this was a scenario they considered, with some kind of warning marker seeded in the backfill above the underground chambers. It would show up in the tailings of any exploratory drill-holes, as chips of plastic (?) with a radiation hazard symbol.