Our world consists of data. Our treasures of information are often referred to as the new oil. But how can these data be saved for eternity? DVDs, hard drives, USB sticks, all these media are not really durable. 5D Glass Data Storage can be the solution here, because thanks to this new technology our knowledge can be stored on glass for billions of years.
5D Glass Data Storage- what is it?
The university in Southampton is working on these 5D memories, which with their size, which quickly resembles a two euro coin, have space for 360 terabytes (TB) of data. This is made possible by the nanostructures in the crystal of the glass storage device. This stores the data as dots, each of which lands on one of three storage levels. The size of the data points and their orientation also provide information about the content and make it interpretable.
Glass Is The Future of Data Storage (Source: Futurism)
This nanostructure can be read through a microscope and a polarizer which, like sunglasses, only allows light rays with certain vibrational properties to pass through. The special feature is that the readability of the 5D memory cannot be changed even by extreme environmental influences and can withstand average temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius.
But what data should we transmit to posterity on this whiteness? What needs to be preserved in the 5D memories for eternity? The researchers think of archives, museums and libraries, but it can still be used much further.
The only problem is that not only the discs are preserved, but also the reading technology is transmitted over the years.
Post picture: University of Southampton)
