UK Researchers Develop 5D Disc to Store 360TB of Data Over 13 Billion Years
There is no end to the data that is being produced every single day all over the planet. From selfies to controversial art to international documents of utmost secrecy, to name a few -the data being produced and stored regularly is equivalent to the space on 10 milliion Blue-ray discs.
As data production continues to increase exponentially, there also arises an urgent need to find a way to store all of it. However, it looks like the University of Southampton may have just found the solution. A team of researchers at the university have developed a tiny 5-dimensional (5D) disc capable of storing 360 terabytes of data over 13.8 billion years. Yes, they like their numbers accurate.
Important texts like the Magna Carta and King James Bible have already been stored in the memory of the disc. This virtually means that the texts have a very good chance of out-living the human race.
“It is thrilling to think that we have created the technology to preserve documents and information and store it in space for future generations. This technology can secure the last evidence of our civilisation: all we’ve learnt will not be forgotten,” says Professor Peter Kazanksy, a member of the research team.
The technology had its first experimental demonstration in 2013 when a 300 kb digital copy of a text file was recorded in 5D. With the ability to withstand temperatures as high as 1,000°C, to last 13.8 billion years at 190°C and all eternity at room temperature, the disc is also called “Superman memory crystal”.
