Mount Rushmore Gets a Virtual Backup — In Case It's Ever Destroyed

Lauren Davis — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:30:00 PDT

If invading Martians or raging Kryptonians ever destroy the faces of Mount Rushmore, at least we'll have a backup to work from. A team of Scottish scientists are teaming up with the American company CyArk to create a 3D model of the monument, which CyArk claims will be accurate within 3mm, in case archeologists ever need to repair it. CyArk plans to archive 3D models of over 500 sites, identifying some as particularly at risk due to excessive tourism and pollution. [Guardian via Reddit]

Wonders of the Post-Industrial World

Annalee Newitz — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:00:00 PDT

Behold the glowing, sunset-drenched beauty of Fridgehenge in New Mexico, United States, a massive recreation of Stonehenge made entirely of dead refrigerators (photo by Longrista). Although humans have reached a rather advanced state of industrial development, that doesn't prevent us from wanting to recreate ancient wonders of the stone age like Britain's Stonehenge. In fact, humans have recreated Stonehenge using quite a number of giant building materials, as you can see in our post-industrial stone-age collection below.

This photo by JWoodPhoto shows Fridgehenge in winter, looking very mysterious and pagan.

In Nebraska, United States, you can also find Carhenge, photographed here by Whisperawish. There are apparently other Carhenges, including one made entirely of Cadillacs, but this one in Nebraska is the classic:

Here's another view of Carhenge, by Alachance.

And then there's Boathenge, in Missouri, United States. In this photo by Debunix, you can see that Boathenge is clearly influenced by Carhenge — the boats are half-buried in the ground.

Of course, in San Francisco, California, we have Doorhenge, as you can see in this gorgeous shot by Grimages.

io9: monuments

Mount Rushmore Gets a Virtual Backup — In Case It's Ever Destroyed

Wonders of the Post-Industrial World