4 ms·

Society can lose information as time progresses. Modern medicine is only just starting to re-discover how important state of mind is when packaging, describing

Society can lose information as time progresses. Modern medicine is only just starting to re-discover how important state of mind is when packaging, describing and using drugs. That's the case despite the fact there haven't been any large-scale catastrophes that caused the information to be lost. In 10,000 years who knows what we might have forgotten?

vectorjohn 10y ago
Not nuclear waste.
- omginternets 10y ago
  Assuming no civilizational collapse happens. Consider the dark ages: much knowledge from greek and roman antiquity was lost, only to be rediscovered at the renaissance. It's entirely conceivable that knowledge of ionising radiation could be lost for a similar period of time if, say, a solar flare were to destroy all telecom infrastructure and subsequent wars were to destroy printed works. Unlikely? Maybe, but certainly possible.
- dsl 10y ago
  Lets say tomorrow we figure out how to drill down and tap the geothermal from the core of the planet. Pretty much overnight the coal, gas, and nuclear industries become obsolete. Nobody will be continuing studies in the field of nuclear. Knowledge will be lost. Heck, 5,000 after the pyramids were built we still don't know how.
  - dragonwriter 10y ago
    > Nobody will be continuing studies in the field of nuclear. Unless they are interested in powering things that aren't tethered to the surface of the earth. Which, you know, is something humans have been interested in...
  - kbenson 10y ago
    Incentives will shift and realign, but nuclear will still have some development. There's a reason it's used in submarines and aircraft carriers, and geothermal isn't going to solve that, even with vastly increased battery technology.
  - ktRolster 10y ago
    Pretty much overnight the coal, gas, and nuclear industries become obsolete. Unless you want to drive a car or fly a plane, then gas will still be important.
gambiting 10y ago
To me, it seems like the answer to the problem is to bury the radioactive waste in incredibly deep shafts - say 5000m below ground? Any society advanced enough to retrieve something from that depth would also have to be advanced enough to know about radiation, surely?

vectorjohn 10y ago

Not nuclear waste.

omginternets 10y ago
Assuming no civilizational collapse happens. Consider the dark ages: much knowledge from greek and roman antiquity was lost, only to be rediscovered at the renaissance. It's entirely conceivable that knowledge of ionising radiation could be lost for a similar period of time if, say, a solar flare were to destroy all telecom infrastructure and subsequent wars were to destroy printed works. Unlikely? Maybe, but certainly possible.
dsl 10y ago
Lets say tomorrow we figure out how to drill down and tap the geothermal from the core of the planet. Pretty much overnight the coal, gas, and nuclear industries become obsolete. Nobody will be continuing studies in the field of nuclear. Knowledge will be lost. Heck, 5,000 after the pyramids were built we still don't know how.
- dragonwriter 10y ago
  > Nobody will be continuing studies in the field of nuclear. Unless they are interested in powering things that aren't tethered to the surface of the earth. Which, you know, is something humans have been interested in...
- kbenson 10y ago
  Incentives will shift and realign, but nuclear will still have some development. There's a reason it's used in submarines and aircraft carriers, and geothermal isn't going to solve that, even with vastly increased battery technology.
- ktRolster 10y ago
  Pretty much overnight the coal, gas, and nuclear industries become obsolete. Unless you want to drive a car or fly a plane, then gas will still be important.

gambiting 10y ago

To me, it seems like the answer to the problem is to bury the radioactive waste in incredibly deep shafts - say 5000m below ground? Any society advanced enough to retrieve something from that depth would also have to be advanced enough to know about radiation, surely?