And what were the dominant terrestrial species at said time? Would there even be any? I have zero idea of what’s the expected survival rate of an iPhone in the fossil record, but I like to imagine a giant sloth stepped on one once and we are none the wiser.

Alternative title:

“Assuming the timeline is stable and time travel is possible, but no evidence is ever found until its invention, what would be the earliest acceptable time period for time-travel tourism, and the latest cut-off point no one would be allowed to go to?”

  • JoBo
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    11 months ago

    If they dropped just one piece of future tech, the chances of any archaeologist ever finding it is infinitesimally small even if it could survive indefinitely. They haven’t dug up every inch of the earth’s surface. The stuff they find is the stuff that was common enough for them to have a decent chance of finding it.