This tiny piece of glass can supposedly hold data forever

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This tiny piece of glass can supposedly hold data forever

Magnetic storage can easily degrade within a lifetime. Flash memory can last longer, but it can still be corrupted over time as the internal components start to break down. But this time little frame of glass, above, is a storage medium from Hitachi that according to the company’s claims, can store data forever, under even the harshest of circumstances.

Not only can Hitachi store data on the little pieces of glass, but the glass can withstand extreme conditions and temperatures without having the data degrade. So, if you happen to drop your glass Kickin’ ’80s Mix disc in a scorching hot desert for a few weeks, some lucky desert wanderer will most likely be able to listen to all that Tears for Fears you put on there without any issues.

The tiny sheets are two centimeters and a surprising two millimeters thin. The sheet can handle degrees of up to 1,832 Fahrenheit for two consecutive hours, is resistant to various chemicals, isn’t bothered by radio waves, and is waterproof. Basically, the data will survive unless you throw it into the Sun, or someone shatters the glass.

The Hitachi glass sliver isn’t actually the most impressive or advanced way to store data, it’s more of a clever workaround. Each sliver of quartz glass is imprinted with dots that represent binary data. The dots can be read with an optical microscope. Now, current computers aren’t equipped to understand the dotted data, but it wouldn’t be difficult to simply program a computer to do so.

The sliver in its current incarnation can hold four layers of dotted data, which turns out to be around forty megabytes per square inch — roughly the storage capacity of a standard CD.

Via