Post-apocalyptic video games often include the tired trope of massive facilities housing a trove of information. These facilities usually house audio logs, emails or books about the fall of civilisation. As it turns out, we're building our own version of a Fallout Vault, an indestructible Black Box on the coast of Tasmania.
Australia's Black Box designed to outlive humanity
Reported by Reuters, a team of Australian scientists are building an information bunker to hold humanity accountable. Designed after flight recorders, the building will be built with the express purpose of documenting a possible societal collapse.
Inspired by the recent U.N. Climate discussions, the new facility will keep data relating to humanity's handling of climate change. If climate change doesn't wipe us out, the data will be used to hold unworthy world leaders accountable. However, if human extinction does occur, the information will leave lessons for the next top species to learn from.
"If the worst is to happen and as a civilization we crash as a result of climate change, this indestructible box will be there and will record every detail of that," said executive creative director at Clemenger BBDO, Jim Curtis. "So whoever's left, or whoever finds it afterwards, learns from our mistakes."
The box will use an algorithm that regularly scours the internet to find information relating to the climate crisis. Once found, the information will be stored locally on drives designed to last as long as possible.
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When and where will this box be built?
The Black Box will be built on the west coast of Tasmania sometime in 2022. Clemenger BBDO, the company behind the box, claim the area is “geographically and politically stable” enough to keep the building safe.
The sizable building has been designed to withstand multiple natural disasters. Additionally, the Black Box has been designed to run off solar and thermal resources, which should be abundant in a post-apocalyptic climate.