Apocalypse when? ‘Earth’s Black Box’ to be installed in remote Tasmanian airfield

It was designed to survive the apocalypse, as humanity’s last testament to its failure. But for a while it seemed the “Earth’s Black Box” hadn’t even survived its own planning process. Now, five years after it was announced to much fanfare, followed by years of ominous silence, the box is back. Its creators say parts assembly is under way and, in December, the full monolith will be installed near Queenstown on the edge of a remote western Tasmanian airfield. When it was first announced that an indestructible doomsday device would be built in a remote part of Tasmania to bear witness to the climate crisis, the news went viral around the world. “Earth is getting a black box to record events that lead to downfall of civilization,” CNET declared, a headline that would later be quoted on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. “We’re doomed,” he whispered to the camera. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email According to the project’s website, the 16-metre long, four-metre high steel structure – to be topped with solar panels encased behind glass – will record “every step” humanity takes towards climate catastrophe. “Hundreds of data sets, measurements and interactions relating to the health of our planet will be continuously collected and safely stored for future generations,” it says. “How the story ends is completely up to us. …