It will work exactly like an airplane's black box, recording the apocalypse day after day.
Almost five years after its announcement, the project of the Earth’s Black Box conceived by the Australian organization Rouser Lab is about to become a reality. By December, on the outskirts of a remote airport in Tasmania, a colossal monolith will be installed, this time made of reinforced steel and concrete, measuring 16 meters long, designed to withstand all sorts of natural disasters or human (or alien, who knows) attacks. It will function exactly like an airplane’s black box, tracking, step by step, “the apocalypse” and recording in real time the spiral of environmental destruction in which our planet is plunging, to leave an indestructible testimony for future generations or civilizations.
As reported by Gizmodo, the power supply of the structure is entrusted to 36 solar panels protected by tempered glass, which will provide enough energy to keep the internal servers running continuously. Through the internet, the black box will archive a continuous stream of data, measurements, and climate parameters provided by space agencies and universities, forming a true “Vital Index of the Earth.” Although Rouser Lab defines itself as an experimental communication agency and not a scientific entity, the installation disproves those who thought it was merely a publicity stunt. The inventors have worked in great secrecy to perfect the design, storage systems, and funding models, demonstrating the absolute seriousness of the initiative.
The ultimate goal of the project is to provide an impartial account of the climate collapse, to try to ensure a historical accountability and, perhaps, inspire urgent action before it is too late. Confirming the group’s radical vision is the parallel development of Climate S.O.S., a technological obelisk designed to transmit climate distress signals into deep space. Despite the efforts, investments, and design, doubts remain about the actual scientific utility of the monolith-black box, considering that the immense amount of data related to the climate crisis is already open source and widely accessible. Perhaps it will serve anyone who comes after us, to have a detailed account of how a world can end.
This is demonstrated by research from World Weather Attribution, which analyzed climate data from 854 cities in 30 European countries.
