Re: Snaps

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
   Uncle Al <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>howard wrote:
>> 
>> Can't think of an appropriate Ng, so here goes...
>> 
>> How do I make a photographic image last a very long time ? I
>> mean a *VERY* long time. I'm talking 5,000 - 20,000 years !
>> 
>> Not digitised but as a viewable image, or negative/slide/print.
>> 
>> Sealed in glass, in a vacuum ??  Laser burn, or etch the image
>> granite or carbon? Or natures way, in amber. ?
>
>Survival time as such is not the issue.  

It's part of the issue.  I'll guarantee you that the thing
that won't survive is exactly what you meant to keep; it's
one of those Murphy things.

> ..A frankfurter lasts 50+ years
>in a landfill (dated by proximate newspapers).  Under what
>conditions?  What optical resolution?  Photoetched nickel and such
>will pretty much last forever short of corrosion and abrasion.  Ditto
>photoetched glass and moisture.  Photoresist on a silcon wafer,
>expose, and etch.  It's good forever short of fire, hydroxide, or
>dropping it.
>
>How long did the Rosetta Stone last?  Pictures on gravestones?  Do
>offset or silkscreen of pigments or noble metal precursor onto
>ceramic, fire, then glaze.  You can do ink jet printing of ceramic
>cups and slabs now - that gives you hi-res color.  While it is
>invulnerable, you need considerable infrastructure.
>
>Make a B&W photo and cast inside a thck slab of polyester resin or
>PMMA.  Good for thousands of years. 

<snip recipe>

We (another newsgroup) talked about this during the summer.
A bigger issue is carrying enough information within the medium
so that what is seen can be understood.  Who/whatever looks
at the relic a millenium from now will not have a similar
context.

/BAH

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