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Explore our museum of artifacts!
Imagine that you are a time traveler returning from a visit to one of these 10 future scenarios. You bring back an object—a souvenir or “artifact”—that you can share with your family and friends. The goal of this project is to make such artifacts!
We invite you to view the collection of artifacts below. Each artifact is linked with a specific scenario of Earth's future 1000 years from now. If you would like to contribute an artifact of your own, see this page for details.
INDEX OF ARTIFACTS:
Children's Doll: Toying with Reality
United States, Earth
Circa 3000
Projection lenses, plastics, leather, acrylic
The doll transforms the room into an area of nature using extended reality technology. Intended for children to explore and learn about the natural world from the comfort of their home.
Aelin's Journal
United States, Earth
Circa 3000
Pencil handwritten on paper
A personal journal used by a 10-year-old girl to practice a historical version of English called Modern English. It describes the child's experiences with extended reality technology and navigating the challenges that brings to childhood.
Luna’s Travels: Sketches of the Eastern Crescent Plains
Eastern Crescent Plains, Earth
Circa 3000
Graphite, paper, cardboard
A notebook found in the outskirts of the Eastern Crescent Plains.
The cover is made of papers stuck together to form a thick binder. Inner pages are bleached and cut recycled papers, all sewn together to form a notebook. The sketches are of graphite material, with hints of etched colors in some pages. It illustrates several of the “Anti-Monuments,” some flora and fauna, and daily life in the region.
Created by Clara Mae Gonzales
All rights reserved
Artifact ID: S4.2.1
Humanity and Cosmic Consciousness: A Maturity Essay and Classics Project
Aeolis Village, Curiosity Oblast, Mars
3025
Originally in cloud format, some paper-and-ink copies found
In the process of becoming enhanced, candidates for enhancement must undergo years of mentoring in preparation, at the conclusion of which they must write a maturity essay.
This is perhaps the only such essay written in English, by classics student Ipatia Joshi-Stolyarova.
Testimony of First Water
Northwest Shorline Terrace, Jezero Crater Dome, Mars
Circa 3000
Stone-textured paper, wooden frame, hinged front panel
A brochure for the Testimony of First Water, a shrine and rite of passage. The outer face is a public monument inscription: poetic, welcoming, and available to anyone.
The inner chamber contains six testimony cards, each paired with a hand-shaped clay object made from Jezero lakebed clay as physical proof that a person was present at the shoreline.
Each card leaves one emotional phrase untranslated in the speaker's own language: Hindi, Yoruba, Arabic, Japanese, Tamil, or English.
S2.6.5.pdf
Water Zither of the Ba-i
Southeast Asia, Earth
Circa 2800
Bamboo, infrared sensors, hydraulics, rocks
In a post-collapse society shaped by ecological restoration, stewardship tools would abound, but what about those made for celebration?
Donated by a small coastal society in the 29th century, the water zither is an augmented traditional instrument that combines salvaged pre-collapse technology with the ingenuity of local artisans. When powered on, the zither produces six "strings" of water made playable by attached infrared sensors.
With water that was ritually gathered from the nearby sea and rivers to produce the playable strings, this artifact symbolizes its people's attention and regard for the waters close to home.
Technician's Manual for Civilizational Resilience
Earth
Circa 3000
Hemp-mycelium paper (12cm × 12 cm), chitin, plant, mineral derived inks
The Technician's Manual appears to contain technical schematics for components of a vertical garden.
Under polarized light, the hemp-mycelium paper reveals a hidden layer containing a message written in Old Roman cursive, inspired by a popular story and symbol shared among the working class. The page's iconography subtly foreshadows the concealed inscription.
Created by Yareli S Arenas
Some rights reserved (CC BY 4.0)
Created with the assistance of generative AI
Artifact ID: S8.2.2
The Root of Ga-IA
Mars
Circa 3000
Wood, branches, leaves, microsensors, electronic filaments, transluscent polymers, luminous fibers
Scientists created a biosynthetic plant called the "Root of Ga-AI," which grows in a controlled ecosystem within a domed or terraformed habitat, designed to integrate the organic with the synthetic. It represents the fusion of biology and technology, where organic life intertwines with digital consciousness to sustain the balance of a planetary ecosystem.
Connected to the planetary artificial intelligence systems, it monitors the stability of the ecosystem, including water flows, energy, and atmospheric composition. Its light and movement reflect the state of the martian ecosystem, sending information through sensor nodes, as if it were breathing and pulsing with the planet. The geometric patterns and bioluminescence demonstrate this combination of biological and technological elements.
If you would like to contribute an artifact of your own, see this page for details.
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