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

[JMH]

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' size 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.

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

 

[Digerati]

Except the existence of a "5th dimension" is still in dispute. Creating their own definition of the 5th dimension reveals to me marketing weenies already have their greasy fingers in this project. I assume lawyers are next, if not already there.

I could not be called a tree-hugger by any means (I drive an empty V8 pick-up truck most of the time - lucky to get 16MPG) but our oceans, beaches, and landfills are already cluttered with plastic water bottles, cigarette filters and other non-biodegradable waste. Not sure we need these too.

The problem with such advanced technologies is still having the (then legacy) technology to retrieve the data in a couple 1000 years.