Figure 1. Mt. Washington in the Snake Range, NV, with bristlecone pines. Photo: Connie Millar

About 15 years ago, my work unexpectedly collided with mountain climate science research when the nonprofit organization I work for, The Long Now Foundation, acquired Mt. Washington in eastern Nevada (Fig. 1). Not the whole mountain, but important parts of. . .   Read More

Figure 1. Bristlecone pines on Mt. Washington, Snake Range, NV.

Wind cutting across my cheek, I marched across a grey, sharp limestone slope at treeline in the Great Basin. The tinkle of rock under shoe and a light whistle of air though bristlecone pine krummholtz were the only sounds heard in a stark, seemingly timeless. . .   Read More

Last week, data from Long Now’s Rosetta and PanLex projects made its way to the moon aboard SpaceIL’s Beresheet mission as part of the Arch Mission Foundation’s Lunar Library. The Lunar Library is a 30 million page archive intended as a backup for civilization. 20 million of the pages in the Lunar. . .   Read More

Nautilus interviews Cesar A. Hidalgo, Director of the Collective Learning group at the MIT Media Lab, on how people and products become forgotten by culture. . .   Read More

On Monday, February 25th, 02019, John Brockman (Founder of edge.org) will speak at Long Now about his new book on artificial intelligence, Possible Minds. Brockman will interview several of the contributors to the book, Rodney Brooks, Alison Gopnik and Stuart Russell on stage. Following the interviews, Kevin Kelly will host the Q&A. . .   Read More

A new paper by archaeologists Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo addresses one of the longstanding mysteries of the monuments of Easter Island: their location.

Four hundred of the statues, known as muai, are located miles away from where they were originally quarried, and sit on megalithic platforms, or ahu. An analysis of the locations of. . .   Read More

Patagonia has released a mini documentary about skiers, snowboarders and scientists as they explore “an ancient story written in rings.” The doc was shot in part on Long Now’s Nevada property in Mount Washington, and shows stunning images of something we at Long Now have not yet had a chance to see: the ancient. . .   Read More

Last week, The Atlantic’s Sarah Zhang profiled a University of Edinburgh science experiment that began in 02014 and—if everything goes according to plan—will conclude in 02514.

The experiment is studying the longevity of bacteria, which can remain viable well past the lifespan of humans.

Physically, the 500-year experiment consists of 800. . .   Read More

“I think it’s a dangerous delusion to think that space offers an escape from Earth’s problems.” -Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, speaking at Long Now in January 02019.

Watch video of the full talk here. . .   Read More

On the western flank of the Hoover Dam stands a little-understood monument, commissioned by the US Bureau of Reclamation when construction of the dam began in 01931. The most noticeable parts of this corner of the dam, now known as Monument Plaza, are the massive winged bronze sculptures and central flagpole which are often. . .   Read More