While I was out today I thought about how the warning marks for the nuclear disposal sites in the future. The current proposal is lacking in many ways.

First, it depends upon written language on markers in order to warn future explorers. On the other hand, symbolism has been hard to come by that properly describes what may lie underneath.

Here’s a possible solution. Still have buried markers but have them entirely as symbols. The markers would all have the same layout of a multi-tiered triangle. Each marker would have the current tier highlighted. Each marker would also contain a small amount of radioactive material. The next marker in the series would contain more radioactive material than the previous marker.

We can easily assume one thing about future civilizations. First, they will have the ability to sense that the materials are radioactive since the markers will be buried deeply and eventually the markers shall start causing health issues (remember, it’s about protecting society as a whole).

Second, since we use basic symbology of a triangle it’s easy to understand and the increasing amount of radioactive material is easy to corelate to the biggest segment on the triangle.

Problem solved, init?