Time Capsule Contents

[Mother Dragon]

If you were to fill a large time capsule to be buried next week, what would you put in it?

I'd start with a smart phone and charger, an iPad, an AppleWatch, an e-cig, a variety of newspapers with different slants, a model of the space station and a rocket, and packages of oreos and chocolate chip cookies. Oh, and a few Twinkies just to see if they really do last.

What would you put in?

 

[AbbysMom]

Hmmmm..... interesting question. Definitely some newspapers and magazines, some photos. A recent year bottle of good wine, maybe even a whisky or something..... A cookbook maybe.... I've got to think more about this.

 

[neely]

Probably my Nespresso machine. Definitely some papers I have saved from past elections and winning the World Series, as well as the Stanley Cup play-offs. In addition, some vinyl records and dvd's.

 

[arouetta]

Coins dated this year, uncirculated if possible. Mint stamps that came out this year. A copy of Disney's The Little Mermaid movie with the naughty cover. (Why? Try to find Song of the South now.) A copy of the Hans Christian Anderson version so future generations know how horribly Disney destroyed the plot and the entire point of the story. (No, I have never seen the Disney version, I refuse since the mermaid was supposed to die and Disney kept her alive.) A sealed Loot Crate box. A book about astronomy, astrophysics and quantum mechanics so future generations can see the evolution of ideas and knowledge....and look at our lack of knowledge and incorrect beliefs and laugh. An article about the discovery of the Higgs boson tucked into that book. A book about oceanography, evolution and laughter. Hardcopies of screenshots of Facebook and Wikipedia. Music produced this year on vinyl with the technical information for building a record player. (Why vinyl? That would be the easiest medium to retro-build the device to get sound from it, and it won't degrade like electronic media would.) Hardcopy of the molecular makeup of chocolate (the future might not have chocolate, gotta make sure they have a way to make it again). A credit card. A high end desktop computer with all accessories (monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, headset, etc) produced this year, evolution of computers and laughter. Hardcopy of a picture of Watson taped to the desktop computer. Weapons - a revolver, a semi-automatic pistol, a rifle, a shotgun and ammo for all. (Hey, no sense in denying that we really did use weapons, so this shows current level of advancement.) A world map produced this year with country borders clearly shown. (Back in the eighties I got my hands on a pre-WW2 map and seeing the difference in countries was neat.)

Um, I think I just over-filled the time capsule. Oops!

 

[Mother Dragon]

A well-thought-out collection.

I think I might add samples of water - ocean to show salinity changes, polluted river water, and drinking water. Also seeds, probably wheat, corn, rice, beans, and some flowers that would grow in various climates. Air samples, too. There should be photos and information on animals that are becoming extinct with tissue samples if possible. Physical measurements of typical men, women, and children along with life expectancy. An artificial heart and a state-of-the-art prosthesis. Medical texts.

Thank goodness we have virtually unlimited space in this time capsule.

A world without chocolate isn't worth living in.

 

[arouetta]

I should have thought of a Seed Bank too. Glad you thought of it.

I used to watch Dark Matters: Twisted But True. One episode told of a Seed Bank in Leningrad during WW2. When the Germans laid seige to the city food got scarce quick. The scientists involved with the Seed Bank starved to death instead of eating the seeds, only one survived. However those seeds were later used to restore 80% of Russia's grain crops following WW2. Can you imagine the mass starvation if the scientists had eaten those seeds to survive?

 

[Mother Dragon]

I think I recently read that the World Seed Bank (Netherlands?) was partially flooded and quite a few seeds were lost. The report said the main collection was intact, though.

 

[Willowy]

I think I recently read that the World Seed Bank (Netherlands?) was partially flooded and quite a few seeds were lost. The report said the main collection was intact, though.

I hadn't read that so I looked it up. . .it did take on some water from melted permafrost but fortunately no seeds were lost: Redirect Notice
Phew! But that sure shows what climate change is doing :/.

 

[arouetta]

I think I recently read that the World Seed Bank (Netherlands?) was partially flooded and quite a few seeds were lost. The report said the main collection was intact, though.

I hadn't read that so I looked it up. . .it did take on some water from melted permafrost but fortunately no seeds were lost: Redirect Notice
Phew! But that sure shows what climate change is doing :/.

Ouch. That's horrible. Maybe they should move it to East Antarctica, that area really hasn't shown much of a warming.....yet.

 

[Winchester]

A Betty Crocker general cookbook (doesn't matter which one), an iPod full of classic rock music (you know what my priorities are)

 

[neely]

I think I recently read that the World Seed Bank (Netherlands?) was partially flooded and quite a few seeds were lost. The report said the main collection was intact, though.

I'm pretty sure there was a feature about this on the CBS Sunday Morning tv show which is now hosted by Jane Pauley.