How and why has the laboratory persisted as a site of invention and systemization of knowledge throughout the last century? This question was the focus of “The Persistence of the Lab,” a panel discussion that took place during transmediale/conversationpiece with Jussi Parikka, Ryan Bishop, John Beck, and Lori Emerson. For her presentation Emerson, who is founding director of the Media Archaeology Lab in Colorado, spoke about the history, future, and the history of the future itself at MIT’s famous media lab. The following is the text of this talk, which will also eventually find its way into THE LAB BOOK.