The supplemental reading I chose, Talking to the future "hey there's nuclear waste here", discusses the use of multi-modal media in order to convey messages to future generations. Inspired by the current move towards nuclear energy as a fuel source for modern America and the present construction of new Nuclear waste storage facilities, the article primarily focuses on the risk that future society faces in the possibility that nuclear waste may be dug up by unsuspecting miners, causing sickness and disease, and possible methods that present day scientists could use to deter such infringements. These include a strong societal and cultural integration of warnings of the danger of nuclear waste, monolithic statues to intimidate future explorers, electromagnetic wavelength markers, and translations of modern day languages to convey warnings. Primary subissues of these methods include the fact that explorers may not be able to understand or interpret these warnings, view them as impotent, or, even knowing their meaning and truth, ignore them anyways. The article ends noting that nuclear waste for the most part is not as toxic as primarily depicted, will most likely not last long enough to adversely affect future societies, and that any future society advanced enough to be able to both detect and access the interior of nuclear waste facilities will most likely be well aware of the risk involved.
The article involves multi modal composition due to its discussion of possible methods for warning future civilizations, through the combination of various modes discussed in this article as well as the limitations of each mode by themselves as well as the risk of change due to change in how culture perceives various symbols over time. The article also discusses the difficulties that modern day linguists and historians have with analyzing fairly recent changes in culture and language, and how this may translate to future societies.