Home Virtual Reality These 5D Glass Discs Store 360 TB Of Data For 13.8 Billion Years

These 5D Glass Discs Store 360 TB Of Data For 13.8 Billion Years

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These 5D Glass Discs Store 360 TB Of Data For 13.8 Billion Years

With increased reliance and use of technology, people inevitably have more data. However, some of the major issues with this data is storing and backing it up. Obviously, devices such as phones and laptops don’t last forever so it needs to be backed up somewhere else like a storage drive or even an optical disk. That said, the data still isn’t safe and probably won’t last very long due to a number of well-known issues such as disc rot and data rot. So, what can be done? Well, a near eternal storage option may be on its way to commercial production.

Eternal Data

Researchers at the University of Southampton have showcased their new nanostructured glass discs that have the ability to store digital data for billions of years. The university announced that they’ve managed to build a device that can store huge amounts of data on small glass discs using laser writing. It’s been dubbed five-dimensional (5D) digital data because, in addition to the position of the data, the size and orientation are extremely important too. Museums, national archives, as well as libraries could all find a good use for this eternal storage on these discs.

In fact, certain data has already started to have been backed up. So far, scientists have preserved important documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Magna Carta, and Kings James Bible on individual discs. These ancient documents will probably outlive the human race itself now.

Capabilities

It’s all very well talking about the discs, but how much can they actually store? While most people would think that storing data for such a long time means that they can only hold small amounts. Well, the truth is far from that. Each one of these glass storage discs can hold a whopping 360 terabytes of data, which is remarkable. Furthermore, they are stable at temperatures up to 1,000°C (1,832°F), and are expected to keep the data intact for 13.8 billion years at room temperature.

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