Re: 1000 year power source for design?

From: CFoley1064 (cfoley1064_at_aol.com)
Date: 06/07/04 

Date: 07 Jun 2004 21:55:22 GMT

>Subject: Re: 1000 year power source for design?
>From: Julie julie@nospam.com
>Date: 6/7/04 1:30 PM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <40C4B454.8C9037BC@nospam.com>
>
>Hank wrote:
>>
>> So...say I want to design a small sealed device, maybe dry nitrogen filled,
>that
>> will play back a message after remaining dormant for 500 to 1000 years.
>>
>> First, is this remotely possible? I know that flash memories have 100 year
>> retention...are those numbers conservative?
>>
>> Are there any reactions in the doped silicon or solders that would prevent
>> operation after that length of time?
>>
>> Would ceramic or tantalum capacitors be suitable for that length of time?
>(I am
>> guessing electrolytics would be a no go)
>>
>> What type of power source could be used? Perhaps a magnet/wire wind up
>> generator (do rare earth magnets lose their magnetism over vast lengths of
>> time?), solar cell, battery with electrolyte held separate by a mechanical
>> mechanism?
>>
>> This is mostly just a thought experiment, but I think it would be
>interesting to
>> bury a time capsule with sound clips and voice, and know that it may one
>day be
>> dug up in the far future...perhaps even by some varient of the human race
>who
>> thinks it is magic. How funny would that be to know my device is
>worshipped as
>> a god being 1000 years from now, lol.
>
>Why limit yourself to 1000 years and electronics? If you want a truly
>durable
>solution that isn't really susceptible to degradation problems w/ solder,
>silicone, discharge, etc., go w/ a mechanical solution.
>
>A simple clockwork phonograph w/ a cylinder (like the first types of
>phonographs) for the recording (all stainless steel) would last tens or
>hundreds of millennia, if not longer.
>
>Electronics aren't the solution to everything -- when designing for extreme
>requirements, think outside the box.
>

Indeed. Actually, this is already prior art. When NASA was building the first
space probes to leave the solar system (Pioneer and Voyager), they designed a
gold-plated copper recording disk which had various sounds of Earth. They
expect it will last at least 40,000 years in a vaccuum (minimum time to the
closest solar system on that trajectory). Here's a link. Also, go to the NASA
main site, and look up "Voyager sound recording" or "Message in a Bottle" on
NASA Search.

http://apod.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020831.html

Good luck
Chris

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