hostblog

A certain feature of the Pennines around Marsden which seems to be presenting itself in an ever more forceful, serendipitous and interesting manner is the Standedge canal and railway Tunnel/s. Having been built just prior to the dawn of the 19th century, they are a fine symbol of the advancing industrialisation of the area forcing itself physically through the landscape and embody the spirit of intrepid networking of trade and information that was typical of the times - often ignoring (or denying) the human and financial cost of the work itself.  Above the tunnels are the remains of much of the quarry workings and spoil from its construction and nearby are other industrial remnants and more recent transmitters and masts. The sequence of canals to rail to radio to digital can be easily followed above ground and there should be plenty of interesting microbial life on the moors above the tunnel and within the canal tunnel itself.

above Standedge near Red Brook, the spoil heaps clearly visible

inside the tunnel. no idea what the slimy looking stuff is but i’m dying to culture it…

as usual there is more information to be had at wikipedia

my desk as of 12.30, 24/04/07 - official first day of residency. new ebay purchases on right of laptop, from left to right:
intel play QX3 USB microscope (works beautifully with macam OSX driver), hot wheels collectors edition Sojourner mars rover, takara models Voyager space probe.

background: ordnance survey OS explorer map OL21

The main problem with communication to an alien or far future species is making sure that a message that makes sense here and now, with all its attached cultural meaning and context, still makes sense there and then, without them. This is a serious issue being faced by those responsible for burying nuclear waste and needing to warn people not to dig it up for another 10,000 years. There is a high probability that our current form of civilisation won’t be around in 12000AD so a simple ‘Danger, Keep Out!’ may not work. 10,000 years ago ‘cavemen’ were daubing images on to the walls of their caves - we believe they depict hunting scenes and have some kind of ritualistic or atavistic purpose, but we can’t be really sure.

The U.S. Department of Energy has been recently looking at this issue and wondering what to do about the warning markers at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) at Yucca Mountain. Various plans have been proposed such as making it a big spikey forboding landscape

building ‘menacing’ earthworks

building forbidding blocks

or creating some kind of complex warning system with constructions and plaques

The thing is though that if any future civilisation is as curious, inquisitive or just plain stupid as this one they are going to attack any historical monument they find with their future jack hammers and JCBs and find out whatever the hell is in there anyway. Isn’t it just better to hide the stuff in a remore location somewhere and not tell anyone?

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=160 and http://downlode.org/etext/wipp/ for more information.

thanks to Iman for the lead…