[tarikjn]

The equivalent today would be 3Dbenchy boats -- "we found an identical boat toy design in multiple sites made of different plastic materials, colors and sizes. It is spread universally around the World cities, found in sites of crafts, leading us to believe it is an idol of a new 21st century religion predominant among workers of the arts and crafts"

[pinko]

Along these lines, if you haven't ever seen it, check out _Motel of the Mysteries_ by David Macaulay. (Yes, that David Macaulay!)

[hiatus]

A Canticle For Leibowitz touches on a similar theme.

[ojo-rojo]

I agree. I started with Anathem then went to A Canticle for Leibowitz. Together they were a fun read, I've put them both on my bookshelf.

[PhasmaFelis]

I remember "reading" that as a kid, when I was too young to really understand the text, and thinking it was a horror story.

[junon]

Is this the one where they find the toilet seat and think it's jewelry or something? If so, had the same experience. I was too young to understand it and thought it was something scary.

[PhasmaFelis]

Yep, exactly! Tons of shadowy pictures of decayed skeletons lying in beds and bathtubs, and most of the humor is in the text.

[felipemnoa]

Just like the Lenna image used in a lot of Computer Science papers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna

[ChrisMarshallNY]

She actually showed up to an IEEE conference once, I think, in the late '90s, or early aughts.

[qingcharles]

She did indeed. Someone finally tracked her down recently. She's kinda over all the fuss :p

[hammyhavoc]

Any anecdotes about the conference? Did it surprise people?

[ChrisMarshallNY]

There is this: http://www.lenna.org

[RcouF1uZ4gsC]

If you try hard enough you could probably come up with some resemblances to male/female parts and thus classify this as belonging to a fertility cult.

[taneq]

"Yes yes the dodecahedron was considered a 'perfect' shape so this clearly represents a 'perfect' uterus surrounded by many ovaries, signifying overwhelming fertility." :P

[s0rce]

or one of these: https://www.ebay.com/itm/304770714900?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt...

[qingcharles]

That seems exceptionally cheap for the work that went into it?

[s0rce]

Magic of Eastern European manufacturing, can probably turn them out in not too much time.

[devnullbrain]

Or a welder's bend test:

https://victesting.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/img_031...

[bertil]

“Also —and this didn’t make sense to us either— it doesn’t float, and there’s no engine. Our best guess is that it’s meant as a comment on the fulity of life.”

[p1mrx]

You can make Benchy float by slicing it with solid infill in the bottom/rear, and minimal infill everywhere else:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6076719

[1970-01-01]

3D printed plastics only last a few centuries. Future archeologists are not going to find these in thousands of years.

[altairTF]

In the joke world they will, along with the lost of all current knowldge of what the 3D boat is

[nextaccountic]

In a few decades, 3d printed metals and other long lasting materias might be accessible to hobbysts

[bigiain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXhH6SbYILg&t=945s

[taneq]

Time to cast a Benchy in aluminium using lost PLA!

[Geee]

It might also be considered as a proof of very small humans who were known for sailing in their small boats.