Brilio.net/en - Researchers at South Hampton University in the UK have made a breakthrough in the computer world by creating a quartz glass coin that can store data for 14 billion years, which tops the age of our Universe itself: 13.82 billion years. The last glass quartz storage ability was capped at 300 million years, which is already plentiful. But the new upgrade will have it lasting for eternity. Literally.
The data is stored digitally by laser light. As much as 360 terabytes of memories can fit in one sliver of nanostructured quartz. It uses the femtosecond laser pulses technique that writes data in the 3D structure of quartz at the nano-scale. These pulses create three layers of nanostructured dots, only microns above the other. This structure can be read by interrogating the sample with another pulse of light and recording the orientation of the waves after theyve passed through.
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They are referring this as a5D storage device, because it includes the three dimensions of space, which are responsible for describing the physical location of the dot, and two additional dimensions that are encoded by the polarity and intensity of the beam that creates the dot. It is also a safe storage because it can withstand up to 157 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
This technology is using the same methods as the Pioneer Plaque, the pair of gold-anodized aluminum plaques that were placed on board the 1972 Pioneer 10 and 1973 Pioneer 11 spacecraft and that feature a pictorial message that is used as a communication tool between us and any extraterrestrial life. These tiny storage systems could someday inform our descendants and other beings about Earth and humanity long after we are gone.
The research team has written a series of major works on the small glass discs. These are the works that will outlive generations: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, NewtonsOpticks, The Magna Carta, and The King James Bible. The advanced storage system makes the technique a genuine means of archiving vast quantities of information in perpetuity.
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Source: Futurism