Communicating with the Future

An experiment 20 years in the making ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

View in Your Browser

Many years ago, when I was a young reporter at Forbes.com, I worked on an experiment that invited our readers to communicate with the future by writing themselves a letter. We promised to store it for them and send it back in one, three, five, ten or twenty years.    I'm excited to say that those two decades are up, and the experiment has been a success. Today thousands of people woke up to find an email from their past self in their mailbox; an email sent when George W. Bush was president and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was about to hit theaters.    To celebrate the occasion, Scientific American has partnered with Forbes to take a look at the issues around communicating with the future, including link rot, deep time and the very hard problem of preserving information. I hope you'll read the report and enjoy.  Not a subscriber yet? I have a special offer just for you: get 90 days of digital access for only $1.  Chase wonder, catch truth, David M. Ewalt Editor in Chief

Report Highlights The Unlikely Story of an Email Time Machine Twenty years ago, Forbes.com sent hundreds of thousands of messages to the future. Here's what happened next. Read More How to Send a Message To Future Civilizations When written knowledge is more ephemeral than ever, how can we pass on what's important? Read More Does the Universe Keep Secrets? Inside the Black Hole Information Paradox Black holes and quantum mechanics present a paradox about the preservation of information. Read More The Mind-Bending Challenge of Warning Future Humans about Nuclear Waste Designing nuclear-waste repositories is part engineering, part anthropology—and part mythmaking. Read More Can a Time Capsule Outlast Geology? A ridiculous but instructive thought experiment involving deep time, plate tectonics, erosion and the slow death of the sun. Read More Read the Report Get 90 days of digital access for just $1

You received this email because you opted in to receive email from Scientific American or you have registered for an account with Scientific American.   To ensure delivery please add news@scientificamerican.com to your address book. Unsubscribe  Email  Preferences  Privacy Policy  Contact Us