http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,71724-0.html?tw=wn_index_1 Says: 02:00 AM Sep, 07, 2006 A half-mile below the surface of the New Mexico desert, the federal government is interring thousands of tons of monstrously dangerous leftovers from its nuclear weapons program --plutonium-infested clothing, tools and chemical sludge that will remain potentially lethal for thousands of years to come. It may be safely secured now, but how to keep our descendants centuries in the future from accidentally unearthing it? That's the question posed by the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the nation's only underground repository for military-generated radioactive waste. To address it, the Department of Energy convened a conclave of scientists, linguists, anthropologists and sci-fi thinkers to develop an elaborate system intended to shout "Danger!" to any human being for the next 10,000 years -- regardless of what language they speak or technology they use. The resulting solution: an unprecedented and epic scale monument that's expected to take the next three decades and as much as $1 billion to complete. "Basically, we just want to make sure society doesn't forget we're here," says Roger Nelson, WIPP's chief scientist. It's going to be pretty obvious that something is there under the scrublands near Carlsbad. The waste site will be surrounded by a four-mile outer fence of dozens of 25-foot, 20-ton granite markers engraved with multi-lingual and pictographic warnings. Inside that perimeter will be ... __________________ Photos http://blog.wired.com/nucleardump/ Their "Dnger of digging" lightning bolt earthworks TOTALLY filed the darwin test with my wife. She thought it looked like they were trying to show that the site contained something interesting. I think a large skull and mushroom cloud may fill the bill :-) Russell -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist