How to build something that lasts 10k years

Re:How to build something that lasts 10k years by jotm on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @10:43AM (#20165150)

It wont last 10,000 years. Nothing more complicated than scribblings on a tough rock will, and even those will likely be indecipherable.

Seed banks are especially funny/sad. They need to constantly produce seeds, which means constant growth of male/female plants, under human supervision.

No seeds last more than a few years under ideal conditions. Even DNA is unrecoverable/unusable after a few centuries iiirc.

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Re:How to build something that lasts 10k years by asdff on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:47PM (#20166614)

>Even DNA is unrecoverable/unusable after a few centuries iiirc

Only if poorly stored. We have plenty of neanderthal DNA, because we have lots of neanderthal teeth which we drill into to extract this ancient DNA. Properly stored, DNA can last thousands of years, I'd wager indefinitely in the right buffer and in liquid nitrogen.

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Re:How to build something that lasts 10k years by mythrwy on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @01:11PM (#20166897)

Seeds of some species can last considerably longer than a few years.

For example Amaranth (pigweed) I've read can lay dormant for something like 40 years and then sprout. And that's outside in native conditions.

Bananas maybe not so much. Not sure.

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Re:How to build something that lasts 10k years by whatshisface on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:03PM (#20166078)

You maintain a seed bank by constantly buying new seeds, and when you can't buy them, oh I guess they're extinct, time to reintroduce them.

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Re:How to build something that lasts 10k years by Real_S on Wednesday June 12, 2019 @12:44PM (#20166578)

DNA can be used as a stable data storage medium for 10k years. I was actually hoping that was the topic of the article when I clicked it...

https://www.wired.com/story/the-rise-of-dna-data-storage/

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