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?

@Crackhappy · 10 months ago

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?

@macarthur_park · 10 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 · 10 months ago

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

@cucumber_sandwich · 10 months ago

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