In early 2022, a never-ending “black box” will be built on a granite plain off the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. The goal is to record “every step we take” towards climate catastrophe, providing a record for future civilizations to understand. The project, run by marketing communications company Clemenger BBDO in collaboration with University of Tasmania researchers, is currently in beta and has begun collecting information from its website.
The structure, the size of a bus, will consist of ten centimeters thick steel and be covered with solar panels. Its interior will be populated with “storage drives” that collect data on climate change, such as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and average temperatures. It will also surf the internet using an algorithm and collect tweets, posts, news and headlines.
The developers estimate that the storage will be full in 30 to 50 years. There are plans to increase the storage capacity and provide a longer term solution, but it is unclear how the structure will be maintained. How will solar panels be protected and replaced when they fail? How will it be protected against vandalism or sabotage? Will his being so far from major residential areas be enough to keep him alive? We will learn the answers to all these in time. . .
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