“It’s the end of the world as we know it”
We hope that the words of R.E.M are still some way off in coming to fruition, but some scientists in Tasmania are making plans for that eventuality. With many people thinking that we are on course to destroy the earth as we know it, some are turning their attention to how we could leave a legacy for any that do survive to learn from.
At a distant end of the earth hidden somewhere on the remote Australian island of Tasmania a strange structure is about to witness and record the end of the world as we know it.
If or when human civilization collapses what will remain maybe part of some cities or the statue of liberty overall though there might not be a lot of evidence left behind about what humanity accomplished or what resulted in its downfall.
One team of researchers want to change that; their solution a massive indestructible box that will record scientific data to give future civilizations insight on how exactly humanity fell.
The project dubbed earth’s black box will be an immense steel monolith installed in a remote location in Tasmania. It’s akin to the black boxes that are designed to survive airplane crashes and provide investigators valuable data on what led to the disaster except on a planetary scale.
Recording events that lead to disaster
The project is a collaboration between researchers at the university of Tasmania. The team is designing the box to record climate data such as atmospheric CO2 levels, sea temperatures and energy consumption levels. It will also gather contextual information like news headlines and social media posts.
The idea is if the earth does crash as a result of climate change this indestructible recording device will be there for whoever is left to learn from that.
The box itself will be made from three inch thick steel and of granite. Inside will be a system of internet connected storage devices powered by solar panels on the box roof.
It’s built to outlive us all if the worst does happen. Even if the power grids go down this thing will still be there.
The biggest issue for the team now is how to help future civilizations access the information it contains after all they will just find a mysterious monolith out in the middle of nowhere.
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