If civilisation collapsed tomorrow, what would be left in 1,000 years?

[Stonius]

I read a really depressing article on IFL science about a study that predicted a 90% chance of global societal collapse in the next 20 years.


Awesome.


But the question that gets me is say some aliens visited 1,000 years hence, what would they find?


In particular, would all of our space junk and satellites have decayed and burned up?


I figure modern architecture is pretty fragile and unlikely to stand the test of time. The pyramids will still be there, of course, and maybe some other stone structures. Angkor Wat would have been reclaimed by the jungle. But would there be any sense that our technology was an advanced one, or would all the signs of that have disappeared?


Markus

[mura_gadi]

Hello,

Not sure about the pyramids, they were buried for a long period of time, they are eroding quickly with exposure to air and now airborne chemicals.

So, I'd start with any cities and structures the wrong side of encroaching sand dunes etc. If they can get buried and not have too much ground water, erosion and chemical wear are reduced.

I'd go a few of the geo-stationary satellites, 1000 years isn't long enough to see them all atomised by space.

Large ground disturbances like open cut mining...


On the other hand:
Assuming the aliens have ground penetrating radar better than we have just started to advance ourselves. Much of human history will be there to read as images, to what level depends on the technology of the ground penetrating and the fragment recovery/analysis process.

[Nikolas]

One study is not science. Anything IFL reports is mainly clickbait and exaggeration

[Stonius]

I guess plastics would still be around. So they would know we wrapped our food in plastic, but not that we flew all over the globe and went to other planets (unless they found a needle in a haystack and stumbled across pathfinder or something).


Kinda funny if someone responded to the Voyager plaque, only to get here and find nobody's home.



Good point about the geostationary satellites though.


I guess I'm thinking what would be apparent to a cursory glance rather than things like ground penetrating radar. I don't think we've even gotten to that point on Mars yet, have we?


I thought that was interesting about the pyramids. I hadn't heard that, but when I went to look it up, it seemed that perhaps that was not the case after all. The Sphinx used to buried up to the shoulders, but apparently not not the pyramids? The pyramids are not in an excavation pit and they couldn't have removed a layer of sand 140m deep over the entire Gaza plateau so it seems probably not. But it wouldn't surprise me if they are degrading with acidification of rainwater owing to increased carbon in the atmosphere.


Markus



Cheers


Markus

[Stonius]

Yes, I absolutely agree. It just got me thinking about that scenario is all.

[mura_gadi]

Yeap, it was the sphinx, the pyramids were never buried...

The lady archeologist who has been promoting and pioneering the use of ground pen. radar, has found its taken a long time for it to garner support. Despite obvious results it took ages to become the goto science it is now.

Plastics I'm not so sure of, 10years ago prior to hearing of plastic eating microbes I would have agreed.

But if we have the microbes adapted within 100years, what's left in a 1000 years if we ceased today, could be very very little in pockets where the climate/conditions are not suitable.

Take concrete cancer and rust, you'd be looking at art works in stone just about... the mostly armless lady would be a good find!

*Ps. I'd back some of the castles and roman aqueducts come to think of it as well

[Atmos]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF1dZLPGC3M

It was a good episode if you can track down the original full length.

[Stonius]

Actually that's a good point on the plastics. Apparently there are wind-blown plastic fibers even on the most remote parts of Antarctica. So if it doesn't all get eaten by microbes, the evidence of the Anthropocene will be a fine layer of plastic in all the rocks forming now - kind of like how Iridium is found in the K-T boundary from the dinosaur asteroid strike.


On the other hand, if the plastic eating bacteria gets out of control we could be kind of screwed if they mutate to become more voracious and start eating the insulation out of our electronics! Norton's won't help you there! Interesting to ponder.

[wavelandscott]

Check out the SF story Ill Wind… by Kevin J. Anderson & Doug Beason

[Renato1]

Well, humans survived the Bronze Age collapse of 1177BC.
Just took them some centuries to get back on their feet.

I'd imagine a quicker recovery for any forthcoming civilization collapse of the Bronze Age scale because of increased knowledge, though lack of easy access to resources like coal and iron might make things more difficult (since all the easy stuff has been mined already).
Regards,
Renato

[N1]

Radioactive waste, such as spent fuel rods, whose ultimate proper storage has yet to be decided, will give some hints as to what humans were able to do. Some of this stuff has a half life so long, a 1,000 years will hardly be noticeable. Not to mention the nukes that haven't been fired and will still be sitting around for curious visitors to play with.

[LonelySpoon]

Physically deformed landscapes would still visible- highway, railroad cuttings/tunnels, major airports, harbours.

What about all the stuff on Mars, and the moon?

In terms of Deep Time, 1000yrs is nothing. Not even aluminium cans would have decayed by then, I think...

Neville
LSO

[gary]

Some in high orbit will still be orbiting.
See 3m12s point here on this ABC Explainer :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzRC1ErpN5k

[redbeard]

Kieth Richards

[Stonius]

Haha, good one. Though I kinda feel like when he actually does die it will be very weird, specifically because of the memes. It'll feel like a harbinger of the apocalypse, like all the dolphins leaving to go back to their home planet.

[Crater101]

Interesting thread. I found this attachment image...

[ChrisD]

As others have said, 1000 years is not a long time. There are plenty of structures on earth now that are over 1000 years old and many of them will likely last another 1000 years or more.

If we were exploring an alien planet and wanted to find out if any technological civilization had lived there then find ice and take core samples.
The pollutants, like carbon products from the industrial revolution to radioactive elements from nuclear tests would give you a good indication of the level of technology achieved.

Just as a side note, many civilizations in the past believed that they were living in the "end times" as some groups do now. But the average "species lifetime" (emergence to extinction) for mammals is around 1 million years, with some species of mammals lasting to around 10 million years.

Since modern humans has only been around for 200K years so far, we're really only in the first 20% of our history, and if we make 10 million years, we're in the first 2% of our species history. Either way, we are only at the start of human history.

Yes, cities, countries, political systems, and civilization may fall but we have plenty of time to start over and maybe do it better the second time. :)

[Hodur]

Every piece of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Fiber(HHMWPE) or “Superline” will still be around. If Jesus had used Superline the line would be useable today.
Spectra or Ppe is bloody dangerous stuff as it just doesn’t degrade.

[xelasnave]

Nothing after all what traces have been left by Atlantis:P

Alex

[sharkbite]

If Chernobyl is anything to go by....most of our cities will return to the jungle in less than 100 years...

Most Mayan buildings disappeared under trees within 1000...

I think the aliens will be confused by why we kept dog poo in indestructible plastic bags...

[Stonius]

Haha, yeah they'll probably ascribe it to religion.



I agree, I don't think today's housing will be around for long before being reclaimed by the local flora. I remember reading that the ancient structures (ie Roman) have lasted so long because they used seawater when making their concrete. Hence why modern structures get concrete rot when 2,000 year old structures endure.


Chernobyl, in spite of being overgrown would still be radioactive, so there's that, I guess.


Maybe radioactive dog-poo is what we should be scanning for on exoplanets :-D

[xelasnave]

I often wonder if there could have been civilizations around millions of years ago... such is easily dismissed as the fossil record shows humans only got going a couple of million years ago ... but I see no reason why say 50 million years ago a species existed on a continent long sunk below the seas..not Atlantis but even Atlantis is possible...and of course we believe that's not possible but in fact it is...

There may have been a advanced city right where the big rock hit that took out the dinasours..in fact I am almost certain there was;)

Alex

[Stonius]

I believe they refer to that as the Silurian hypothesis (yes, after Dr Who, but it's an actual hypothesis that has been put forward)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silurian_hypothesis

[xelasnave]

Thanks Markus...so past civilizations are real:D

Alex

[pmrid]

A dead giveaway sign that there was an advanced civilisation would be the nuclear waste dumps, followed by thevremains of Chernobyl and then, Clive Palmer’s election posters.

[Sunfish]

The Pantheon in Rome was built 1900 years ago (opened 125) and is still perfectly good. It outlived the civilisation that built it , found new use, and will outlive the current one while something like people are still around to use it.

The Sydney Opera house might still be here in 1000 years although you will have paddle through the shells in a boat.

[Hodur]

That’d be his second millennium

[ChrisD]

The Opera House was designed to last 250-300 years. 1000 years from post stressed concrete in a marine environment is a big ask, but you might be right.

Chris