Hitachi has found a way to store data in quartz glass. The AFP
news agency reports that Hitachi has discovered a way to store
digital information on slivers of quartz glass. This data can
seemingly exist forever, enduring extreme temperatures and
hostile conditions without degrading... at least until the sun
begins to die and expend to consume the earth, that is.
According to the report, the new tech stores data in binary form
by creating dots inside thin sheets of quartz glass which can be
read using your standard optical microscope. The current
prototype is roughly 0.8-inches square and 0.08-inches thick,
and consists of four layers of dots which can hold up to 40 MB
per square inch -- approximately the density of a music CD. More
data layers can easily be added. Hitachi researcher Kazuyoshi
Torii said that quartz glass is highly stable and resilient
material, used to make beakers and other instruments for
laboratory use. Due to the medium, the chip is waterproof,
resistant to many chemicals and unaffected