axbom’s avataraxbom’s Twitter Archive—№ 35,725

  1. Main reason I'm wary of nuclear power is my field of expertise: communication science. I once did an exercise creating long-time nuclear waste warning messages for 10,000 years in the future. It's acutely obvious to me how this will fail miserably. 🧵 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-time_nuclear_waste_warning_messages
    oh my god twitter doesn’t include alt text from images in their API
    1. …in reply to @axbom
      I do believe Thomas Seboek was on the right track proposing an Atomic Priesthood. The priesthood would preserve the knowledge of radioactive waste's locations and dangers through rituals and myths. We do love stories. But believing them 10,000 years from now?
      1. …in reply to @axbom
        The idea of cats changing color due to radiation, perhaps? In 2014, musician Emperor X wrote such a song called "Don't Change Color, Kitty", designed to be "so catchy and annoying that it might be handed down from generation to generation over a span of 10,000 years".
        1. …in reply to @axbom
          So many absurd ideas have been proposed over the past decades. Task groups are pulling their hair. And while this glaring problem and threat to future humans persists, their wellbeing seems to rest on the success of these absurdities. hyperallergic.com/312318/a-nuclear-warning-designed-to-last-10000-years/
          1. …in reply to @axbom
            Great listening tip from beantin on this topic. The Nuclear Priesthood. How could we warn people 100 000 years in the future about buried nuclear waste? Poet Paul Farley explores the options - pictures and monuments to Atomic Folk Tales. bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09vvw40
            1. …in reply to @axbom
              Topical. And very real. After decades of mismanaging its nuclear waste, the US Department of Energy wrestles with its toxic legacy. ”entire cottage home-health-care industries have sprung up around nuclear sites” vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2021/09/cold-war-hot-mess