When our species has become extinct, is there anything that would survive long enough to tell the next intelligent species to arise that we were a technological civilization? (lemmy.world)

submitted 9 months ago by Crackhappy@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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[-] macarthur_park@lemmy.world 60 points 9 months ago

There’s an entire book dedicated to answering your question: The World Without Us.

The Wikipedia article I linked summarizes a lot of the book, but I recommend reading it since the details are fascinating.

TL;DR:

The longest-lasting evidence on Earth of a human presence would be radioactive materials, ceramics, bronze statues, and Mount Rushmore. In space, the Pioneer plaques, the Voyager Golden Record, and radio waves would outlast the Earth itself.

[-] AbsurdityAccelerator@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago

Won't there also be evidence of raw materials that got mined out?

[-] cucumber_sandwich@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Probably. Metals etc. are far out of "equilibrium distribution", even if all mines collapse without a trace.

this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024

92 points (94.2% liked)

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