2026-06-14T09:29:39-0400 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
随着美国迎来这一里程碑式周年纪念，许多庆祝活动都在回顾我们过去250年的历史，但有一项活动却着眼未来。
美国时间胶囊项目负责人汤姆·梅德马表示：“这个时间胶囊让所有人都有机会与未来对话。这是一种用于思想和实物的时间旅行方式。”
梅德马负责组建一支跨学科专家团队——包括科学家、议员、图书馆员——来落实国会2016年发布的纪念美国建国250周年的法案。该法案要求，2026年7月4日将一个时间胶囊安葬在费城独立国家历史公园，将于美国建国500周年纪念日，即2276年7月4日开启。法律规定，胶囊内将装有“书籍、手稿、各类印刷品、纪念品、文物及其他材料”。
由谁来决定哪些物品可以被留存？梅德马说：“我们希望所有州、领地和哥伦比亚特区都能派代表，自行挑选提交的物品。”
美国250周年纪念委员会主席罗西·里奥斯表示：“这份纪念必须横跨从海到海的整个美国，必须由基层社区主导，必须充满个人色彩。”
在白宫游客中心，游客可以写下自己给未来的留言。里奥斯说：“我们的目标是让尽可能多的民众参与其中，同时挑选出部分内容纳入我们的时间胶囊。”她表示，目前收到的留言传递出“诸多希望，充满了乐观情绪”。
但在挑选胶囊内物品之前，还有一个问题：如何确保这些珍贵物品能在地下15英尺处完好保存，直到2276年被开启。
“能够保存250年的时间胶囊此前从未有过先例，”美国国家标准与技术研究院（NIST）制造技术办公室主任迈克·贝里拉说道，“我们正在迎接这项挑战，全力以赴，就是要做到能再保存250年。”
当被问及我们从以往的时间胶囊中学到了什么时，贝里拉说：“大多数时间胶囊都会失效，原因都是进水。最初我们有三种不同的设计方案：盒形、星形和圆柱形。星形设计虽然会是一场噩梦，但完成后的效果会非常酷！”不过星形设计的边缘缝隙会让水渗入。
美国国家标准与技术研究院制造技术办公室主任迈克·贝里拉正在向记者费思·萨利展示这款为再保存250年打造的美国时间胶囊。/ 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
最终敲定的不锈钢圆柱形设计，在装入物品前就重达一吨。这些物品已经从全美50个州、哥伦比亚特区以及5个领地邮寄到了NIST。
西弗吉尼亚州提交了一块雕刻成该州形状的煤炭。俄亥俄州提交了一块来自莱特飞行器的织物，附带奥维尔·莱特的原始声明。
美国国会图书馆的档案人员负责甄别哪些物品能够经受住时间的考验，并否决了不合格的提交物，包括任何会腐烂、分解或影响周围其他物品的东西。不允许使用粘合剂、皮革，甚至连苹果派都不行！
胶囊内将包含的物品有：iPhone 17、美国原住民艺术品、学生随笔、硬币和徽章、可口可乐瓶，甚至还有伴随联邦军参战的鹰的羽毛。
此外，由美国国会图书馆提供的建国文件还加入了2026年的高科技元素：合成DNA中编码了托马斯·杰斐逊《独立宣言》原稿的数字副本、亚伯拉罕·林肯手迹的渲染图，以及音乐作品——一首《星条旗永不落》的录音，被封装在一个顶针大小的容器中。梅德马说：“如此小巧的东西竟能承载如此强大的力量和如此多的历史，实在令人惊叹。”
他认为，这个时间胶囊体现了我们对美国实验持续下去的信念。“这个时间胶囊装的都是有形的物品，”梅德马说道，“但它们与永恒的理念紧密相连。《独立宣言》中阐述的理想是永恒的。我们并非总能践行这些理想，但全世界所有人都认同，它们是全人类共同的追求。”
了解更多信息：
- 美国时间胶囊：美国250周年纪念委员会官网
- 美国国家标准与技术研究院（NIST）
本报道由露西·柯克制作。编辑：查德·卡丹。
“Do not open until July 4, 2276”: What will America’s Time Capsule reveal?
2026-06-14T09:29:39-0400 / CBS News
As America approaches this milestone anniversary, many celebrations are looking back at our past 250 years, but one looks forward.
Tom Medema, project manager for America’s Time Capsule, says, “The time capsule gives everybody the chance to talk to the future. It is a form of time travel for ideas and for physical things.”
Medema is responsible for assembling a team of experts across disciplines – scientists, lawmakers, librarians – to fulfill a 2016 mandate from Congress to honor the semiquincentennial, which states a time capsule shall be buried in Philadelphia at Independence National Historical Park on the 4th of July, 2026, to be unearthed on America’s 500th birthday, on July 4, 2276. The law mandates the capsule will contain “books, manuscripts, miscellaneous printed matter, memorabilia, relics, and other materials.”
Who decides what gets preserved? “We wanted all states and territories and D.C. to be represented, to choose their own objects to submit,” said Medema.
According to Rosie Rios, the chair of America 250, “It has to be sea-to-shining-sea. It has to be grassroots community-driven. It has to be personal.”
At the White House Visitor Center, guests can compose their own messages to the future. “The goal is to have as many folks as possible participate in this, and then also choose a select few that will be included in our time capsule,” said Rios. The messages being submitted, she said, express “a lot of hope. There’s a lot of optimism.”
But even before choosing what goes inside the time capsule, there’s the question of how to ensure those precious items will survive 15 feet below ground until they’re unearthed in 2276.
“The existence of a time capsule to last 250 years has never been done,” said Mike Berilla, director of the Fabrication Technology Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). “We are taking on this challenge and just doubling, tripling down and saying, yeah, we’re going to make another 250 years.”
Asked what we’ve learned from past time capsules, Berilla said, “Most time capsules fail because water comes in. Initially we had three different designs. We had a box, we had a star, and we had a cylinder. And the star would have been a nightmare, but so cool to pull off!” But the edges mean water could get in.
Mike Berilla, director of the Fabrication Technology Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), shows correspondent Faith Salie the America’s Time Capsule, built to last another 250 years. CBS News
The stainless-steel cylindrical design they settled on weighs one ton even before being loaded with the contents, which have been mailed to NIST from across the 50 states, D.C., and five territories.
West Virginia sent a piece of coal carved into the shape of the state of West Virginia. Ohio sent a piece of fabric from the Wright Flyer, with an original statement from Orville Wright.
Archivists at the Library of Congress determined what will stand the test of time, and rejected submissions that won’t, including anything that will decay, decompose, or affect the other objects around them. No adhesive, no leather, no apple pie!
What the capsule will hold includes an iPhone 17; Native American artwork; essays from students; coins and pins; a Coca-Cola bottle; and even a feather from the eagle that accompanied Union soldiers into battle.
And, courtesy of the Library of Congress, our founding documents, with a 2026 high-tech twist: Synthetic DNA encoded with digital copies of Thomas Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration, a rendering of Abraham Lincoln’s hand, and music – a recording of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” contained in a vessel the size of a thimble. “That something of this size can hold that much power and that much of our history in it, is mind blowing,” said Medema.
He believes the time capsule embodies our faith in the continuation of the American experiment. “This time capsule is all tangible things,” Medema said. “But it’s connected to ideas that are timeless. The ideals that are outlined in the Declaration of Independence are timeless. We haven’t always lived up to them, but everyone around the world can agree that they are the aspiration of everybody.”
For more info:
- America’s Time Capsule: America 250
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Story produced by Lucie Kirk. Editor: Chad Cardin.
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