Specifics of time and ageing - Red Dwarf

[JamesNBarnes]

I've been re-watching Red Dwarf recently, and its got me thinking about the effects of time on every day objects.

 

For those unfamiliar with the premise, theres a huge city sized ship, Red Dwarf, and due to a disaster (the specific effects of which we will have to ignore, because the description provided by the writers is riddled with flaws its self) the ship was essentially left untouched for 3 million years.

 

One sole crew member was in "stasis" at the time of the accident, and was released from stasis 3 million years later.

 

So with that in mind, we will assume that the atmosphere within the ship stayed exactly the same as the Earth's atmosphere for 3 million years. (Or if you know the specifics of the composition aboard modern space craft, run with that )

 

What specifically would happen to every day object under these circumstances?

 

To make it a little easier to speculate we can pluck some of the variables out of the air

 

We can assume that the lighting was turned off for the duration of the 3 million years.

We can assume that the humidty remained at a constant of around 10 -20% (I got that figure from the average humidity of an aeroplane interior, gleaned from a quick google, please feel free to correct).

 

So what would happen to every day objects left in these conditions for a period of 3 million years.

 

Things to consider (taken from things i noticed in the show).

- Paper

- Blue Tack

- Tinned Food/Dried food (both possibly irradiated for sterilisation)

- Cosmetics

- Clothing

- Metallic Objects

- Plastics

- Composites of the above, eg Electronics

 

Feel free to add your own terms ... the show aired in the 80s so you can imagine a ship built with technology from back then, modern technology or proto technology (it was set in the late 22nd century)

 

Please note, im not trying to validate or lampoon any of the things shown in the program. Im well aware that the premise of the show is just a vehicle to set up a sitcom. However, i think it will make for an interesting discussion!

 

I would appreciate answers with some in depth explaination for any of your speculation

 

Lastly, if you havnt seen Red Dwarf and would like to, many of the episodes can be streamed from here.

 

Thanks!