4 ms·

They are going to need a "Rosetta stone" for this grave. For instance, what language and alphabets will be used or forgotten $10,000 years from now let alone 10

They are going to need a "Rosetta stone" for this grave. For instance, what language and alphabets will be used or forgotten $10,000 years from now let alone 100,000 years. Hieroglyphics was almost a lost alphabet.

ryanhuff 9y ago
I bet Ikea could come up with something.
vacri 9y ago
If we can recover hieroglyphics from the single fragment that is the rosetta stone, than any future civilisation capable of interpreting a 'rosetta stone' will do just fine given the monstrous amount of hardcopy literature we leave lying around.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
ajarmst 9y ago
We could just leave a pile of skeletons at the entrance. Less facetiously: it's already been an area of study for some time: http://www.salon.com/2002/05/10/yucca_mountain/ http://www.salon.com/2002/05/10/yucca_mountain/
Fzzr 9y ago
Also posted above: http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%20message%20to%2012,000%20a_d.htm http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%... Yes. They're considering everything from pictographs up to the level of hostile architecture. The proposed message includes instructions to update the message in the language spoken at the time, in the hope of helping the message endure for generations more.
- hexane360 9y ago
  And the full version: http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/921382.pdf http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/92138...
- CM30 9y ago
  It's an interesting set of ideas, and the concept of trying to warn future generations away is certainly a good one. Unfortunately, I don't think any of these ideas will work quite as well as people think they do. Okay, they kind of figured that one out in the full study (they give between a 10-40% probability that a low technology society will understand the warnings) but still. Just looking at human history, mythology and media will tell you how well deterring people from a location through warnings and scary geography has worked out. The spikes, skeletons and other deterrances are the kind of thing any future historian (or Indiana Jones style explorer) is going to find extremely interesting regardless of warnings. Even if they do know about nuclear radiation.
  - cowboysauce 9y ago
    >The spikes, skeletons and other deterrances are the kind of thing any future historian (or Indiana Jones style explorer) is going to find extremely interesting regardless of warnings. Even if they do know about nuclear radiation. A future archeologist exploring the architecture is of no concern. A future environmental science team drilling down to study how well our containment procedures worked is of no concern. If people are aware of what's buried, it's not a problem. The goal isn't to keep people out, per se, it's to let them know what's there. That's what the document proposes. None of the architecture is designed to physically prevent people from entering the site. It's all designed to tell people what's there.
jpalomaki 9y ago
Just close down the place leave absolutely no markings outside. Probability that somebody will just start digging in some random place is quite low. Also the waste is stored several hundred meters deep and all the tunnels will be filled. This means accessing the waste later will require significant effort and reasonably advanced technology (which means those doing the digging would likely be aware of radiation).

ryanhuff 9y ago

I bet Ikea could come up with something.

vacri 9y ago

If we can recover hieroglyphics from the single fragment that is the rosetta stone, than any future civilisation capable of interpreting a 'rosetta stone' will do just fine given the monstrous amount of hardcopy literature we leave lying around.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

ajarmst 9y ago

We could just leave a pile of skeletons at the entrance. Less facetiously: it's already been an area of study for some time: http://www.salon.com/2002/05/10/yucca_mountain/ http://www.salon.com/2002/05/10/yucca_mountain/

Fzzr 9y ago

Also posted above: http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%20message%20to%2012,000%20a_d.htm http://www.wipp.energy.gov/picsprog/articles/wipp%20exhibit%... Yes. They're considering everything from pictographs up to the level of hostile architecture. The proposed message includes instructions to update the message in the language spoken at the time, in the hope of helping the message endure for generations more.

hexane360 9y ago
And the full version: http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/921382.pdf http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/1992/92138...
CM30 9y ago
It's an interesting set of ideas, and the concept of trying to warn future generations away is certainly a good one. Unfortunately, I don't think any of these ideas will work quite as well as people think they do. Okay, they kind of figured that one out in the full study (they give between a 10-40% probability that a low technology society will understand the warnings) but still. Just looking at human history, mythology and media will tell you how well deterring people from a location through warnings and scary geography has worked out. The spikes, skeletons and other deterrances are the kind of thing any future historian (or Indiana Jones style explorer) is going to find extremely interesting regardless of warnings. Even if they do know about nuclear radiation.
- cowboysauce 9y ago
  >The spikes, skeletons and other deterrances are the kind of thing any future historian (or Indiana Jones style explorer) is going to find extremely interesting regardless of warnings. Even if they do know about nuclear radiation. A future archeologist exploring the architecture is of no concern. A future environmental science team drilling down to study how well our containment procedures worked is of no concern. If people are aware of what's buried, it's not a problem. The goal isn't to keep people out, per se, it's to let them know what's there. That's what the document proposes. None of the architecture is designed to physically prevent people from entering the site. It's all designed to tell people what's there.

jpalomaki 9y ago

Just close down the place leave absolutely no markings outside. Probability that somebody will just start digging in some random place is quite low. Also the waste is stored several hundred meters deep and all the tunnels will be filled. This means accessing the waste later will require significant effort and reasonably advanced technology (which means those doing the digging would likely be aware of radiation).