If they were to get a 600mm length of 90mm diameter Poly Pipe seal one end with that special glue one uses, put some time capsule stuff inside and seal the other end, then encase the whole thing with plumbers lead sheeting making sure all seams were soldered and nothing could get in or out, then bury it some three meters under ground, would it last 1,000,000 years. Just asking
If they were to get a 600mm length of 90mm diameter Poly Pipe seal one end with that special glue one uses, put some time capsule stuff inside and seal the other end, then encase the whole thing with plumbers lead sheeting making sure all seams were soldered and nothing could get in or out, then bury it some three meters under ground, would it last 1,000,000 years.
I'm wondering about the same thing. In about 1,000,000 years all my loans and mortgages should be paid off, and I'd like my descendants to know which of their ancestors laid the foundation to their fortune...
Given the history of your friend's area, I would suggest also preparing the capsule for rising sea levels, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and the possible return of giant megafauna -
Tell your friend lead and solder fumes can be toxic.
Maybe copper sheet and lead free solder or silver solder?
Maybe plastic wrapped?
It's going to ebd up somewhere anyway?
I do often question whether the earth will still be inhabitable in 100 years without worrying about 1,000,000 years.
Nuclear devices, global warming, the ever increasing stupidity of younger generations through the use of social media?
I won't live to see 164 (not quite) so I cant be absolutely sure.
Maybe copper sheet and lead free solder or silver solder?
Interesting point, Leo.
The national archives suggests 'copper alloy or high alloy stainless steel' and to 'avoid the use of soft lead solder as this will deteriorate faster than the rest of the capsule'.
Location: '34 South' Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,481
The Earth's orbit will go through many Milankovich cycles plus anthropogenic climate change on the top, all of Warrnambool is going to be very deep underwater over the next million years.
Same with all coastal cities. Sea level will probably rise at least 70 masl over the next million years.
Your friend is wasting his time putting it in plastic. Needs a stainless steel welded high strength pressure vessel designed for deep sea submersion. There won't be anybody here to dig it up. The human race doesn't have many more generations to go. We've consumed most of the resources of the planet in the past 300 years.
Attached are the latest sea level predictions for the year 2150, 130 years from now for Brisbane, Gold Coast and Northern NSW coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Warnambool and Adelaide. This is 1/15 of the expected sea level rise over the next million years.
Yay, I'll have a waterfront property in Lithgow, or is that you in Young Joe?
Buried under the ocean, no one is going to find it depending on the depth but I do see the earth beyond the capacity of sustaining life.
As for human life I think it will come around again, starting out with cave men and back to where we are now after the planet heals, not withstanding a big earth changing impact. We could go the way of Mars through green house gasses and destroy the entire planet and have no water, that wouldn't surprise me either.
It's long been suggested throughout history that many of the conveniences we have now have in fact been around thousands of years ago. I'm not suggesting microwave overs and streaming services but replicas of very old what appear to be aerodynamically flight capable models pulled from the pyramids, ancient hieroglyphs and art suggesting the battery is far from a modern day convenience and other inexplicable evidence suggesting we get to a certain level, wipe ourselves or the planet out and those few who survive start from scratch, living in caves and our technology is lst to them. Back to hunter gatherers and rubbing sticks together for fire when they eventually figure it out.
A stainless steel welded pressure vessel does sound like the way to go but DO NOT fit a carbon fibre nose cone.
Well thank you people for so many interesting responses, well we better get cracking then and build something that will out last any catastrophic event.
What should you put in the capsule? If you were going to leave something written or recorded, what media would you use? Should you include a player device? I have a box of VHS tapes from my youth…might be fun to see, if I had a playback device…
That is a very good point Scott, I suppose in 1,000,000 years there will be nothing like we know it today, or anything at all for that matter.
Earth might be gone altogether or at least life less.
So I reckon something like coins, a written letter, photo's of Alice and I, a disposable razor perhaps, USB drive maybe with stuff on it, a Biro or pen/pencil, bank cards, gift card from bunnings, gees now I am on a role.
So what would others think that would be interesting to creatures 1,000,000 up the track.
Location: '34 South' Young Hilltops LGA, Australia
Posts: 1,481
Quote:
Originally Posted by leon
That is a very good point Scott, I suppose in 1,000,000 years there will be nothing like we know it today, or anything at all for that matter.
Earth might be gone altogether or at least life less.
So I reckon something like coins, a written letter, photo's of Alice and I, a disposable razor perhaps, USB drive maybe with stuff on it, a Biro or pen/pencil, bank cards, gift card from bunnings, gees now I am on a role.
So what would others think that would be interesting to creatures 1,000,000 up the track.
Leon
The best printed photos have archival lifetimes estimated between 100-200 years for monochrome prints with Epson ultrachrome pigmented inks on archival papers or Giclee prints, nowhere near a million years.
What should you put in the capsule? If you were going to leave something written or recorded, what media would you use? Should you include a player device? I have a box of VHS tapes from my youth…might be fun to see, if I had a playback device…
I''ve been considering this very point and can't decide whether to use reel to reel tape, cassette, 8 track, Beta, VHS or to go more modern with CD or DVD, maybe SD/compact flash card/SIM card, flash drive or portable hard drive.
Maybe just load my data into some crystals.
This is our interpretation of history, we make out what we think we may understand from hieroglyphs or hand prints on cave walls but we'll never truly know.
The better concept would be leave the planet in a better condition for future generations and INSIST reading is still part of the education curriculum.
The best printed photos have archival lifetimes estimated between 100-200 years for monochrome prints with Epson ultrachrome pigmented inks on archival papers or Giclee prints, nowhere near a million years.
That is true Joe, but if photos were never exposed to light and keep at a constant temp of some 3-4 meters underground surly we could expect a much longer period before any degrading.
I know a million is a fair stretch, so maybe half million.
I gave ChatGPT a crack at the problem. It appears that the PVC pipe in the backyard just may not cut it. Also its suggestion to bury it on the moon or place it in geosynchronous orbit may prove somewhat challenging.
Constructing a time capsule designed to last 1,000,000 years presents enormous challenges due to environmental, geological, and material degradation over such a vast timescale. Here's a comprehensive approach, focusing on durability, resilience, and preservation:
Key Considerations:
Material Selection: Must withstand extreme conditions (radiation, heat, corrosion).
Environmental Factors: Protect against geological changes, climate shifts, and potential human interference.
Message Accessibility: Ensure future civilizations (or species) can understand and interpret its contents.
1. Outer Shell:
Material:
Tungsten or Titanium Alloys: Extremely resistant to corrosion, high temperatures, and mechanical damage.
Synthetic Diamond Layer: Provides unparalleled hardness and resistance to chemical erosion.
Ceramic Composites: Advanced ceramics (like silicon carbide) are highly durable and heat-resistant.
Design:
Sphere or Geode Shape: Resists pressure from all directions and minimizes structural weaknesses.
Multi-Layer Shielding: Use nested layers for redundancy.
2. Storage Medium for Information:
Material:
Sapphire or Quartz Discs: Data can be etched onto these materials using femtosecond lasers, ensuring longevity.
Nanostructured Metal Plates: Information stored at microscopic scales (like Rosetta-style engravings).
DNA Encapsulation: Synthesized DNA sequences could encode data and be preserved within glass or synthetic amber.
Redundancy:
Multiple copies in different materials and encoding methods.
Include simple pictorial guides or "how-to" instructions.
3. Preservation of Physical Artifacts:
Material Choice: Avoid organic materials; metals or ceramics are best.
Inert Gas Encapsulation: Store items in vacuum-sealed containers filled with noble gases (like argon) to prevent oxidation.
4. Location:
Subsurface Storage:
Bury deep in a geologically stable region (like the Scandinavian or Canadian shields).
Depth: At least 500-1000 meters to avoid surface erosion, climate changes, and human activity.
Underwater: Placement in deep-sea locations, such as near mid-ocean ridges, where geological stability is higher.
Space:
A capsule placed on the Moon or in geosynchronous orbit could avoid terrestrial risks.
Ensure it's shielded from cosmic radiation and micrometeorites.
5. Message to the Future:
Universal Symbols: Include simple mathematical or scientific symbols, possibly using a binary code (universally understandable as a fundamental language).
6. Testing and Validation:
Simulations: Conduct extensive durability testing under accelerated aging conditions.
Prototypes: Deploy multiple capsules with slightly different designs for redundancy.
Current Inspiration:
Projects like the Long Now Foundation's "10,000-Year Clock" and the Rosetta Project provide useful frameworks. They aim to convey information across millennia and focus on extreme longevity in both design and material.
Creating a truly million-year time capsule requires a multidisciplinary approach involving materials science, geology, and even space technology.
I suppose in 1,000,000 years there will be nothing like we know it today, or anything at all for that matter.
