RJ (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} rjlippincott) wrote,@ 2008-05-08 16:52:00 |
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Plotting the destruction of a future civilization
On a typical workday, I'll bring in a lunch that includes a sandwich, yogurt, some sort of fruit, some granola bars, a few other items.
The sandwich is in a zip lock bag.
When I'm done eating, I take the breadcrumb and granola crumb littered paper towel I use as a place mat, plus any fruit scraps, wad them into the empty yogurt cup, and zip the whole thing into the sandwich bag. This goes into a trash can.
I figure between the yogurt yeast buds and any airborne mold that drifts down during lunch hour, some of these little sealed bags will start to grow life within the plastic bag long after it's all taken to a landfill.
Most will eventually die out. Some small percentage will mutate, and find that they cans subsist on the plastic bag. Those will grow, and will eventually continue to grow in the landfill as they eat all the refuse around them.
When human civilization collapses and mankind vanishes from this planet, the little mold will continue to grow, mutate, evolve.
I figure that in about three and a half billion years, what was once the mold will have evolved from plant through animal and into a sentient life form. By then of course, billions of years of plant growth will have decomposed into hydrocarbons, and the planet's oil supply will be rich. It will be possible for the descendants of this mold to build a thriving and advanced technological culture.
Just in time for the sun to expand and burn earth to a crisp.
On a typical workday, I'll bring in a lunch that includes a sandwich, yogurt, some sort of fruit, some granola bars, a few other items.
The sandwich is in a zip lock bag.
When I'm done eating, I take the breadcrumb and granola crumb littered paper towel I use as a place mat, plus any fruit scraps, wad them into the empty yogurt cup, and zip the whole thing into the sandwich bag. This goes into a trash can.
I figure between the yogurt yeast buds and any airborne mold that drifts down during lunch hour, some of these little sealed bags will start to grow life within the plastic bag long after it's all taken to a landfill.
Most will eventually die out. Some small percentage will mutate, and find that they cans subsist on the plastic bag. Those will grow, and will eventually continue to grow in the landfill as they eat all the refuse around them.
When human civilization collapses and mankind vanishes from this planet, the little mold will continue to grow, mutate, evolve.
I figure that in about three and a half billion years, what was once the mold will have evolved from plant through animal and into a sentient life form. By then of course, billions of years of plant growth will have decomposed into hydrocarbons, and the planet's oil supply will be rich. It will be possible for the descendants of this mold to build a thriving and advanced technological culture.
Just in time for the sun to expand and burn earth to a crisp.
