A hard disk that can store date for a million years – and survive being barbecued – has been unveiled by nanotechnologists.
The optical storage disk that is
designed to outlive humanity has been developed by Jeroen de Vries at
the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
Current hard disk drives have the
ability to store vast amounts of data but last roughly ten years at room
temperature, because their magnetic energy barrier is low so that the
information is lost after a period of time.
De Vries’ ‘million year disk’ is written
using etching techniques, and is made of tungsten – used for its
ability to survive extreme temperatures – and then covered in silicon
nitride. He tested its ageing abilities by frying, barbecuing and
torching it, showing its energy barriers are high enough to prevent heat
loss.
He said it would also withstand an hour
in an oven at more than 200°C , which would represent more than 1
million years at normal temperatures.
De Vries said humans should think about
storing information for long time and said: “One scenario is that a
disaster has devastated the earth and society must rebuild the world.
“Another scenario could be that we
create a kind of legacy for future intelligent life that evolves on
Earth or comes from other worlds. You must then think about archival
storage of between one million and one billion years.
“In principle, we can store everything
on the disc that we believe is worthwhile saving: for example, a digital
image of the Mona Lisa.”
The optical information carrier uses
complex technology of etching QR codes into the tungsten. Each pixel of
the large QR code contains a smaller QR code that in turn stores
different information.
—telegraph.co.uk
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