NEW DELHI: A futuristic “time capsule” that can store over 750 letters or postcards has been designed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi for Amritpex 2023 — the national philately exhibition which came to a close at Pragati Maidan on Wednesday.The time capsule is meant to store letters written by the public on their vision for India in 2047.Professor Vikrant Karra and professor Jayant Jain from IIT Delhi’s department of materials science and engineering assisted the department of posts with the design, analysis and fabrication of the state-of-the-art time capsule.Elaborating on the time capsule, Karra said, “The time capsule structure is made of stainless steel, weighs around 75 kg, has a height of 100 cm and a base diameter of 70 cm. It can store letters or postcards in excess of 750 in number. The design is futuristic, mechanically superior and protective of environmental degradation.”As a part of the philately exhibition, visitors, students and those interested were asked to write their vision for India in 2047. The time capsule will be opened 24 years later and the entries stored over the years will be sent to the people who submitted the entries during the five-day exhibition.“The time capsule will capture what the citizens of India think today and how they visualise the future. The capsule will be revisited in 2047 to see how things turned out compared to what the public envisioned,” officials explained.The “Time Capsule: Share Your Vision of India@2047” was conceived by the department of posts and Union ministry of communications in collaboration with the Union ministry of culture.The exhibition — which encompassed themes like women and youth power, culture and history, nature and wildlife, New India and Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav — also had virtual reality rooms, digital activities, philately movies, a wall of stamps and live paintings by artists.Amritpex showcased over 1,400 frames highlighting India’s history, culture and heritage through stamps and photographic collections.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/ahead-of-the-times-iit-delhis-time-capsule-locks-in-letters-postcards-for-2047/articleshow/97959346.cms
