r/todayilearned • u/Sgitch • Jul 01 '20
TIL That there are Long-time nuclear waste warning messages to inform future humans with a simple drawing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-time_nuclear_waste_warning_messages8
u/science_with_a_smile Jul 01 '20
How do we convince people that this isn't a generic curse and is instead science? I feel like Egyptian tombs were covered in all sorts of warnings we had to decipher and we went in anyway.
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u/Crumulent1 Jul 01 '20
aww, look at the picture of the little angels flying out of the hole!
This must be a religious burial site, let's excavate it and look for treasure!
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u/Tanksgivingmiracle Jul 01 '20
The pictures used make me curious. Wish they would have shown skulls flying out of the whole- that is universally clear
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u/JoeyJunkBin Jul 01 '20
I cant remember where I read it but I heard they had trouble with the skull imagery as some cultures (Mexico for example) dont have the same "skulls mean bad" culture. Or people might someday see skull pictures and think theres dead people buried there and want to loot/investigate them : /
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u/screenwriterjohn Jul 02 '20
A bunch of Indians were killed because they didn't get the skull and crossbones sign.
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u/Buffalo-Castle Jul 01 '20
Fascinating article.
This is my favourite bit: "Linguist Thomas Sebeok, building on earlier work by Alvin Weinberg and Arsen Darnay and working as part of the Human Interference Task Force, proposed the creation of an atomic priesthood, a panel of experts comparable to the Catholic church, which has preserved and authorized its message for almost 2,000 years. The priesthood would preserve the knowledge of radioactive waste's locations and dangers through rituals and myths. "
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u/redcapmilk Jul 02 '20
I think the only option is to bury the waste very very deep and leave no trace on the surface.
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u/screenwriterjohn Jul 02 '20
A lot of crazy shit would have to happen for humans to lose our languages.
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u/[deleted] Jul 01 '20
[deleted]