Researchers at Microsoft have found a way to store terabytes of data on a tiny square of glass, preserving it for generations to come. This technology would make it infinitely easier to leave treasure troves of information for future humans to learn about their past.
Released in a paper in Nature, Project Silica uses light beams to encode data onto glass by altering its surface. It’s similar to how movies are etched onto the surface of a DVD disc, but this is more like a multidimensional version of that. Silica records data using what the team has dubbed “phase voxels,” which use differences in the phase of light wavelengths to record data in a voxel. These voxels are like 3D pixels engraved into the glass with a femtosecond laser.
And they can store a large amount of data in a very small space. A single glass chip can hold 4.8 terabytes of data, which would be the equivalent of 5,000 ultra-high-definition films. Not to mention the impressive lifespan of these chips — they’re made mostly of borosilicate glass, the same as most Pyrex kitchen containers. The team theorizes that they can last for 10,000 years. All we need now is to ensure humans will still be around then to read them.
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