Acadia opened this issue on Feb 12, 2007 · 116 posts
kuroyume0161 posted Mon, 19 February 2007 at 1:31 AM
Longetivity is a mesmerizing topic for me! ;) Please don't get me started, please...
Most of the artifacts that have lasted millenia have only done so under extraordinary circumstances - just the right conditions, buried away-forgotten-not touched, being out of the way of wars and natural catastrophes (unless the latter preserved it - see Pompeii).
Think about how close the world was to losing the entire Nag Hammadi scrolls to the fire for boiling water for tea - even after having barely survived nearly two millenia untouched!!!
Nothing is indestructible (but I get your drift in your range of indestructibility and so on). I've considered how humanity (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) could preserve its knowledge and history for a time when, maybe, an extraterrestrial intelligence capable of interstellar-intergalactic travel chances upon our minute solar system and planet (or an un'manned' exploratory device for the same purpose) long after we have turned into something else. The Earth is too volatile for consideration of long-term preservation (and I'm talking millions and millions of years here). An orbiting satellite would be bombarded by micrometeors, solar radiation, and its orbit would eventually decay. The Moon is probably the best bet - the side that receives the least impacts. Luckily, lunar impacts are far fewer than in past eons and its absolutely sterile environment (no atmosphere, no vulcanism, no life) are very well suited to long-term preservation. This would be even more highly successful if the 'time-capsule' were buried beneath the surface to protect against the aforementioned dangers to satellites. The Moon is receding in its orbit (moving further from Earth) so that means there is little chance of it careening into Earth.
It is assured that magnetic and laser media are not good for long-term data storage. Better storage will definitely need to be found. Just think about the reels and reels of early film being lost totally or partially to the cellulose used.
C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the
foot. C++ makes it harder, but when you do, you blow your whole leg
off.
-- Bjarne
Stroustrup
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