The Human Interference Task Force
But that's just the future plans, here's what they already have underway in this facility:
The Human Interference Task Force or HITF is just as it sounds, a group of people who are tasked with coming up with ways to protect humanity from itself. HITF was commissioned by the US Department of Energy and Bechtel Corporation in 1981 after it became apparent that long term efforts would be needed to protect future humans from nuclear waste leftover and 'hidden' on Earth specifically the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in the US. Based on the fact that some radioactive isotopes can survive for 24,000 years (I.E. plutonium), HITF was created to come up with ways to continue warning people of the dangers of these nuclear waste repositories long after 'we' (the current and next generations) were gone. Since language has changed so much even in the last 1,0000 years with many dying or already dead, the DOE gathered scientists, linguists, archaeologists, engineers, science fiction writers, anthropologists, nuclear physicists, futurists, behavioural scientists, as well as many others to come up with ways of getting the message across in the long term. The 'long term' of course differs between groups of specialists working on these ideas: the smallest being 10,000 years and the highest being One millions years. Below are some of the ideas that the HITF has come up with so far, they currently have another 15 years before plans are submitted to the US Government in 2028.
The Ideas
- Atomic Priesthood - Thomas Sebeok - A panel of experts who would be replaced by a council when needed
- Satellites - Stanislaw Lem - Artificial satellites that would transmit messages to Earth for a thousand years
- DNA Coding - Stanislaw Lem - DNA with mathematical coding embedded in them, designed to reproduce automatically
- Information Plants - Stanislaw Lem - Plants designed to only grow near nuclear sites, coded with locations & dangers
- Radiation Cats - Francoise Bastide & Paolo Fabbri - Cats that would change color dramatically near radioactive danger
- Warning Signs - Vilmos Voigt - Signs added (never removed) every so many years with the evolution of language shown
- High Tech - Emil Kowalski - only house in buildings that require a high tech generation, they will likely understand more
- Marking Deep Time Studio - Jamie Kruse & Elizabeth Ellsworth - signs marking every nuclear site ever
But that's just the future plans, here's what they already have underway in this facility:
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| Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - Carlsbad, New Mexico |
Passive Institutional Controls -
- Outer perimeter wall that covers 4 square miles made of granite that is 25 feet high, that wall surrounds another 'earthen' wall 33 feet high, which also surrounds another wall of granite pillars. At the center is another smaller room also made of granite that gives all information needed to protect future generations from exposure.
- Legacy - Distribution of all necessary information to all archives and libraries around the world.
- Approved Languages: English, Spanish, Russian, French, Chinese, Arabic, Navajo, Modern Radiation Signs
- Considered Languages: Pictograms, Stick Figures, Future Languages
That's some great prep work right there, DOE. Good work.
xoxo disaster girl
P.F.S. Links for the Curious
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