Beginning in 1987, using camera equipment developed for the Hubble Space Telescope, preservationists were able to monitor the Declaration for even the most minute signs of fading or flaking ink.
The measures proved effective, so much so that the Declaration outlived its original protective case. After undergoing careful inspection for further erosion in 2003, the document was resealed in a titanium casement filled with inert argon gas. Similar preservation techniques are used to protect the Bill of Rights and Constitution.
via July 4, 1776: Preserving the Declaration | This Day In Tech | Wired.com.
fucking technology. I love it!
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but why the fuck is the original document so important? isn’t it the ideas of the document that are important and not the actualy parchment on which they were first laid out on?
There are two types of people. One types understands that a symbol is merely that; a symbol, a reminder of what it stands for. The other type need that symbol, because the symbol is the same as what it stands for. These are the people that have seizures if someone burns the American flag in protest.
@nyokki:
YES. THIS.
Now, if they’d just put as much effort into sticking to it’s tenets as they do trying to keep it looking pretty they just might have a working government.
@Marrock: That would be good.