The AFP news agency reports that Hitachi has discovered a way to store digital information on slivers of quartz glass. This data can seemingly exist forever, enduring extreme temperatures and hostile conditions without degrading.
The AFP news agency reports that Hitachi has discovered a way to store digital information on slivers of quartz glass. This data can seemingly exist forever, enduring extreme temperatures and hostile conditions without degrading.
Hitachi have found a way to store data in quartz glass! Of course they have, I mean, it seems obvious that that was the next step! If that wasn’t amazing enough it is reported that the data could seemingly exist forever, enduring extreme temperatures and hostile conditions without degrading.
According to the report, the new tech stores data in binary form by creating dots inside thin sheets of quartz glass which can be read using your standard optical microscope. The current prototype is roughly 0.8-inches square and 0.08-inches thick, and consists of four layers of dots which can hold up to 40 MB per square inch — approximately the density of a music CD. More data layers can easily be added.
“We believe data will survive unless this hard glass is broken,” said senior researcher Takao Watanabe.
“We believe data will survive unless this hard glass is broken,” said senior researcher Takao Watanabe.
It is amazing to think that a data storage device could be fire resistant and water proof also!
While the technology is still in very early stages and the data capacity is not that great it is still a pretty incredible idea. The article doesn’t state how the data can be read outside of using a microscope or when it will be available.
As a side, could this be the start of completely transparent hardware?
Source: www.tomshardware.com
Original Story: facebook.com/notes
