Researchers in the U.K. have developed a way of storing
digital data inside tiny structures contained in glass. The storage technology
is so stable and safe that it can survive for billions of years, scientists at
the University of Southampton said this week. That's a lot longer than your
average computer hard drive.
Sadly, the human inventions don't look like the glittering
crystals that Superman uses to generate holograms of people from his home
planet. Instead, they take the form of small glass discs that have already been
used to store historic documents, like the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the Bible."This technology can secure the last evidence of our
civilization: all we've learned will not be forgotten," said Peter
Kazansky, a professor at the university.
Each disc can hold up to 360 terabytes of data -- the equivalent of 22,500 basic iPhones.
The wizardry involved is invisible to the human eye. The scientists use a sophisticated laser to encode the information into minuscule formations, known as nanostructures, inside fused quartz. The structures alter the way light travels through the glass, allowing the data to be read by special optical devices.
The researchers call the data storage 5D, because the information is translated into five different dimensions of the nanostructures — their height, length, width, orientation and position.
The scientists from Southampton, who are presenting their research at an international conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, say they are looking for industry partners to further develop and commercialize the technology.
(CNN)