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Humanity's 'last pictures' in space disc

The Last Pictures Project is a photo exhibition that will launch on a satellite and enter permanent orbit around Earth. It's designed as a message to future aliens who discover the remains of our civilization.

Tim Hornyak
Crave freelancer Tim Hornyak is the author of "Loving the Machine: The Art and Science of Japanese Robots." He has been writing about Japanese culture and technology for a decade. E-mail Tim.
Tim Hornyak
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1 of 10 Creative Time

Space disc

A closeup of The Last Pictures time capsule by multimedia artist Trevor Paglen shows the gold-plated silicon disc that contains 100 black and white pictures. It's slated to launch with a communications satellite in a few months, and then continue to orbit the Earth indefinitely, perhaps outlasting humanity itself.
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2 of 10 Hans Hinz/ARTOTHEK

Earliest art

The "pit scene" from the cave paintings at Lascaux, France. Discovered in 1940, the cave's stunning artwork is believed to be some 17,300 years old.
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3 of 10 NOAA/Department of Commerce

Dust bowl

This scene shows a dust storm descending on a rural settlement in the 1930s. Severe droughts helped turn soil to dust and blow away.
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4 of 10 Creative Time

Shipping news

This shot from The Last Pictures gallery shows a ship navigating the Suez Canal in Egypt. Opened in 1867, the canal lets ships sail from Europe to Asia without going around Africa.
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5 of 10 Creative Time

First contact

Greek and Armenian orphan refugees are seen experiencing the seashore for the first time in their lives in Marathon, Greece.
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6 of 10 Creative Time

NORAD base

This image shows construction of the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The facility was built in the 1960s amid Cold War tensions.
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7 of 10 NASA/Carla Cioffi

Liftoff

A Soyuz-FG rocket launches at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The vehicle is often used to service the International Space Station.
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8 of 10 Creative Time

Eye in the sky

Migrants are imaged by a Predator drone along the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency covers the southern border with Predator flights.
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9 of 10 NASA/William Anders

Earthrise

Shot by astronaut William Anders, this powerful image of the Earth rising above the moon's horizon was taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968.
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10 of 10 Al Jazeera English

Cherry blossoms

This quintessential image of springtime shows a flowering cherry tree. "Sakura" trees are celebrated every spring in Japan, where revelers party under the blossoms.

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