On Feb 3, 1:18=A0pm, Phillip Thorne <petho...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> The recent History Channel special "Life After People" examined the
> physical mechanisms by which human civilization -- specifically, 20cen
> architecture -- would decay after our sudden vanishment. =A0It did not
> address what non-architectural remnants would *persist* for future
> civilizations to discover, or structures specifically *designed* to
> survive.
> <http://www.history.com/minisites/life_after_people>
One building they didn't specifically address was the Washington
Monument. I'm curious what would become of that. It's not made
of rebar, it's essentially a pure compression stone structure.
> ObSF, human explorers often encounter alien artifacts that have
> withstood untold ages. =A0How? =A0Either they're so huge that the
elements=
> can't wear them down, they're built somewhere that doesn't *have*
> erosion, they're composed of astonishingly strong materials, or
> they're self-maintaining.
> If we were actually interested in building maintenance-free structures
> that last a long, long time, and cost was no object, what would we
> use? =A0Stainless steel? =A0Diamond slabs? =A0Would it work to simply
coat=
> steel and concrete with impermeable diamond instead of paint? =A0As an
> unmatched thermal conductor, is diamond immune to destructive thermal
> stresses? =A0Would it be safe fom everything short of volcanic bombs and
> crowds with hammerS?
There are stones which can take weathering okay; it seems to me
the big issue is how to avoid getting covered up by sand or
vegitation.
If cost is no object, I'd say build a huge "structure" on the moon.
Maybe some sort of huge lettering legible from Earth, made of
huge piles of boulders.
Isaac Kuo
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