What will they find in 200 years?

That would be nice. I've got an el-cheapo that tells me a nickel is junk and bottle caps are diggable. I've got to do it the old fashion way, dig up everything...

 

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100 year old newspapers are often in far worse condition than 200+ year old newspapers - because the paper in the earlier time tended to have much more durable cotton fibre in it, and not as much wood pulp. With a lot of what is printed on wood pulp based paper today, it is not going to be much of a loss unfortunately. At least the Harlequin romances and all the other trash will disentegrate and history will forget that seemier side of the 20th century

 

An awful lot of that show is believed to have been scripted, and the "finds" were likely planted to make the show interesting.

 

In 1086 a census was made in England of all the people and all their belongings for tax purposes and to have a baseline for the keeping of records. It was all written into a book called the Domesday Book.

In 1999 as part of the Millennium celebration a digital copy of the Domesday Book was made and placed in the Millennium Vault as part of the Millennium Celebration in England.

Today, just nine years later, they no longer have a reader that can read that digital copy of the Domesday Book. But the nearly 1000 year old paper copy can still be read.

 

According to HSN and they're never wrong, the slabbed coins in MS70 condition will last forever. Thus, they will still be around even after the big crunch.

 

Even though I am a dedicated fan of the History Channel, I refuse to watch the "Life after people" garbage.

Please. Our buildings will be here for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years, unless they are purposely destroyed, and cars do not rust rust into nothingness like they would have you believe. (OK, some do, but not all) If left in the elements they will rust, but it will take a lot more then 50 years for that to happen. The 1895 cars I saw in the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg musuem proves that if well kept, they will survive.

Clad coins can last thousands of years. No, they won't look the same as they do now, but they will still be here.

The zinc cents, that might be another story. The copper outer layer, if kept out of the natural elements, should keep them in existance. I am doing a study, on Christmas Day of 2008 I put a brand new 2008 cent outside, on top of my generator. It was in perfect BU condition at the time, and I've left it out there in the elements all year. It has not kept it's original color (some remains but mostly it has turned black) but it has not dissolved. The Arizona Quarter, which has been sitting next to it but had been there earlier, since it first came out in the spring of last year. The detail is still there and so is some of the lustre but most of that is gone, and it has turned some odd colors.

 

I like watching the show "Life after People". They take you to locations that have been vacant of people, like Chernobyl, and show the devastion that the wind, rain, insects, animals, and foilage can do to man's moments in just 20 years. It sure doesn't look like many of our moments are winning the battle to me. As a Chemical Engineer, our greatest legacy appears to be plastic. It will be floating around in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for millions or years. Thank god for us engineers!!!!

 

I saw a show about the guy that makes Human bodies into art peices (Institute of Plastination I think) saying they will last thousands of years, be awfull if that was the only thing they found .

 

Really? There are hundreds of ghost towns within a 100 mile drive of my house, most only abandoned in the early 1900's after the gold, silver and copper mines closed. After just 100 years the buildings look worse than the most delapidated Roman ruins I've ever seen, and yes, vehicles turn to piles of rust. Masonry building decay the fastest followed by brick, as the lime in both turns brittle and reduces everything to dust.
Guy~

 

Yes, it is amazing how quickly a building, or a piece of equipment, starts falling apart once abandoned and maintenance stops. It is almost as if it knows.

 

Glass and steel buildings last a very long time. So does stone. If there are no people around to loot and tear out all of the useful materials, they last even longer. Ruins frequently become ruins because people tear them apart for building materials. Modern cars have so much plastic in them that parts will be around for a very long time unless burried. The remnants of our society are more likely to be burried or recycled than destroyed. I hate to say it, but the History Channel has lowered their standards to put a lot of poorly researched garbage on the air which people believe is true. It was a good idea turned bad.

 

I don't know about glass, but I know steel decays faster than brick. I know at work (railroad) they have to replace steel rail every three years due to decay, which consists of rusting, pitting, and crystal deterioration caused by contracting and expanding due to temperature fluctuations. Steel is like a liquid...it freezes and thaws, which makes it move and over time lose it's crystaline allignment. And I have to say, steel used in rail for tracks is a far, far superior steel than used in building construction.
Guy~

 

Without proper maintainance, in time, mother nature will show us just how powerful she really is. Our infrastructure is a perfect example. Ask the folks in Minnesota...