(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Warning the future:

If you look at it just right, the universal radiation warning symbol looks a bit like an angel. The circle in the middle could indicate the head, the lower part might be the body, and the upper two arms of the trefoil could represent the wings. Looking at it another way, one might see it as a wheel, a triangular boomerang, a circular saw blade, or any number of relatively benign objects. Whatever a person's first impression of it may be, someone unfamiliar with the symbol probably wouldn't guess that it means "Danger! These rocks shoot death rays!"

An essay on the problem of trying to make a "keep out until 15,000 CE" sign for nuclear waste repositories.

Comments

[torrain.livejournal.com]

That's really interesting, actually. I like some of their suggested warnings.

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

The final concept art actually looks kinda interesting, in the "investigate what's under there" sort of way. Making it look like decoration or modern art would sort of defeat the purpose, I think.

I'd paint pictures of melting bodies. Heck, I'd blow up photographs of radiation sickness and post them.

[laurewyrm.livejournal.com]

Honestly, it sounds like someone planning a really detailed dungeon crawl. Something you would run into in the Fallout games...

[fearmeforiampink]

The point with symbols like the radiation warning is that they are known. They are something you can't make an easy pictogram for, and you want something that is clear and very recognisable. So, a symbol with some level of appropriateness is chosen, and it is publicised. There's not much else you can really do.

I suppose part of it is that we concentrate on informing people now, rather than in millenia ahead. But it's the most practical way to approach things.