'5D' discs can store data until well after the sun burns out,

[lockedout]

Researchers at the University of Southampton's Optical Research Center announced on Tuesday that they've perfected a technique that can record data in 5 dimensions and keep it safe for billions of years. The method etches data into a thermally stable disc using femtosecond laser bursts. The storage medium itself holds up to 360 TB per disc, can withstand temperatures up to 1000 degrees C and are estimated to last up to 13.8 billion years at room temperature without degrading.

Each file is comprised of three layers of nanoscale dots. The dots' side and orientations, as well as their position within the three standard dimensions, constitute its five dimensions. These dots change the polarization of light travelling through the disc which is read using a microscope and polarizer.

The Southampton team originally demonstrated the technology back in 2013 though, at that point, they could only fit a 300kb test file onto a disc. In the three years since their first demonstration, they've essentially perfected the recording technique and have since recorded the entirety of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Newton's Opticks, Magna Carta and Kings James Bible.

"It is thrilling to think that we have created the technology to preserve documents and information and store it in space for future generations," Professor Peter Kazansky from the ORC said in a statement. "This technology can secure the last evidence of our civilisation: all we've learnt will not be forgotten."




http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/16/5...sun-burns-out/

[Kujako]

And what's the longevity of the devices needed to read them?

[Masark]

I wonder what the read and write rates are like.

[Daerio]

But how easy are they to scratch?

[ro9ue]

I want one.

And one is probably all I'll ever need.

[IIamaKing]

Well thats pretty cool.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

But you won't be able to read the data in ten years time, because all of the disc readers will have broken.

[Very Tired]

"It is thrilling to think that we have created the technology to preserve documents and information and store it in space for future generations," Professor Peter Kazansky from the ORC said in a statement. "This technology can secure the last evidence of our civilization: all we've learnt will not be forgotten."

You know you can just store them on earth and they won't be forgotten, right? Or if it's for some ancient alien race you want to discover it, they are going to have to invent space travel just to get to them right? Or at the very least advance to our computer age to be able to read them.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

You know you can just store them on earth and they won't be forgotten, right? Or if it's for some ancient alien race you want to discover it, they are going to have to invent space travel just to get to them right? Or at the very least advance to our computer age to be able to read them.

The aliens would

1. Have to get here
2. Find a disc the size of the end of your thumb
3. Figure out how to read the data
4. Figure out how to open the files

The chance of that happening is so remotely slim, I'd say it's practically an impossibility.

[lockedout]

The aliens would

1. Have to get here
2. Find a disc the size of the end of your thumb
3. Figure out how to read the data
4. Figure out how to open the files

The chance of that happening is so remotely slim, I'd say it's practically an impossibility.

If Aliens could get here the rest is easy.

[Silverlock]

Will believe it when its in my hands not before

[Yvaelle]

I wonder what the read and write rates are like.

If each laser pulse takes 1 femtosecond to etch, and then 1 femtosecond to off / switch position - that's 2 femtoseconds per recording. It's a little trickier to figure out how many bits is recorded per dot. For example, it mentions size and orientation being dimensions - but how many states can it recognize in each dimension?

If it recognizes:
- 10 sizes of dots
- 10 orientations of dots
- its 100 dots wide
- its 100 dots long
- its 3 dots high (layers)

Then we could code 100 (10x10) variations per dot location, and 30,000 dot locations. Someone more comp-sci-y than me can figure that out into a meaningful unit of measurement, and/or adjust the number of dots in the matrix to solve for 360 TB?

Then we can use that plus the femtosecond assumption to get a loose idea of read/write. I suspect this process isnt automated yet though - since it talks about them adding things like the bible and them magna carta - but if it was simply a 360TB hard drive, I'd expect them to put 7 seasons of TNG on there, and stuff.

[Grimbold21]

It's a measurement of time. If we travel beyond our solar system at some point, or even flee the growing sun to other planets/moons we've got colonies/bases on then the point is valid, right?

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Yeah, durability is my big question as well. It's nice that they're that stable, but they're going to require some kind of lamination/casing to make them more durable I'm sure.

Not when our galaxy is destined to collide with Andromeda....or was that after the sunny burning up?

[TITAN308]

Since no one has had the balls to say it yet;

That is a lot of preserved porn possibilities.

[lockedout]

Since no one has had the balls to say it yet;

That is a lot of preserved porn possibilities.

Yeah the article leads you to believe the Holy Bible was the first thing they recorded....

[Yvaelle]

I think the Solar Systems in our Galaxay are too far apart from each other to really be affected by the "collision". At least, that's what I remember watching somewhere. Though, anything could happen, I'm sure.

Overwhelmingly (like 99.99%+) will probably merge without any solar systems colliding - doesn't mean things might not get crazy though

I want to live billions of years just so I can see how beautiful it will be when we merge!

This is what it will look like in 3.75 Billion years

[Masark]

Not when our galaxy is destined to collide with Andromeda....or was that after the sunny burning up?

1. About a billion years before. Though life on earth would have been obliterated by the sun's increasing brightness a couple billion years before that.

2. The galactic collision would be unlikely to have any significant effect on the solar system.

[Skaiz]

Well too bad I have data I need to hold onto for 13.9 Billion years. 13.8 billion just sounds like it's made to break early. Must be a Apple product.

[TrumpIsPresident]

If we travel beyond our solar system at some point, or even flee the growing sun to other planets/moons we've got colonies/bases on then the point is valid, right?

Wont happen.

For a space colony to succeed everybody would have to work and get along.

And since "equality" will be the primary mechanism for selecting who goes...

[breadisfunny]

Wont happen.

For a space colony to succeed everybody would have to work and get along.

And since "equality" will be the primary mechanism for selecting who goes...

zombergy do you ever get tired of harping on about this? i can see you there trying to stir the race pot some more.....