Vatican Gets Sistine Chapel Ready to Hunker Down

Around 135 cardinals will enter the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday to begin the process of electing the new leader of the Catholic Church, and the Vatican is going into overdrive to ensure that what happens in the Sistine Chapel stays in the Sistine Chapel. As Fast Company reports, while a locked door might have sufficed in the 17th century, in the 21st century, the Church is fighting modern technology with modern technology to keep the secrets secret until the white smoke blows.

• The high tech we're looking at: The Vatican isn't being exactly forthcoming, so what we know is largely based on the last two papal conclaves that elected Popes Benedict (the first to ban cell phones) and Francis—particularly the latter. For any potential drones looking to take a peek in the chapel's windows, a special window film. Special floor tiles will block cellphone signals. Jamming devices high on the walls are meant to stop signals coming in or out.

• And the low tech: The Sistine had its communication hub installed Friday: a chimney, reports the AP. A furnace is used to burn the cardinals' ballots after they're tallied, and send smoke signals to the outside world—black if there's still no pope, white if some lucky guy is about to put on a white cassock.
• Security: The cardinals and the Sistine undergo extensive sweeps for any devices. The cardinals enter the chapel singing, and take a vow to keep the proceedings, you guessed it, secret. Then the doors lock and the party gets started. They're protected by guards with some pretty serious firepower.
• What's gone wrong in the past: In 2005, a German cardinal accidentally spilled the beans about the newly elected Benedict before he could be announced. At the subsequent conclave that elected Francis, the Vatican jammed its own internet so that nothing could get in or out.
• What's a "conclave" anyway? It's Latin for literally "a room that can be locked up," per the Conversation.

(More papal conclave stories.)