• Reuters, Thursday, October 12, 2006 11:31 AM

Mexico's government has rejected Yahoo's plans to use the archeological site at Teotihuacan as part of its "time capsule" project. The Yahoo project is aimed at gathering text, images, video and sounds submitted by users from all over the world through 20 of its multi-language sites. The Web giant wanted to take that material to Teotihuacan's Pyramid of the Sun and project the work off the pyramid and into space, with the (far-off) hope of communicating with extraterrestrials. Yahoo's marketing directors said the initiative was designed to encourage its users to become ambassadors for the brand. The information was to beam into space on Oct. 25.

But Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History said the event could potentially damage the site. "We are the guardians of the heritage of Mexico," the organization's spokesman said. Mexico is very protective of its archeological sites, which are still the subject of excavation by archeologists and bring in millions of dollars in tourism revenue each year. Yahoo must now look for another site from which to launch its "time capsule." MediaPost suggests The Luxor hotel in Las Vegas, if Peru and Egypt also say no.

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