>4.84TB in a single slab of glass, (the slabs are 12 cm x 12 cm and 0.2 cm thick).
So a rough estimate, at the size of UMD, used in Playstation Portable, slightly smaller than the size of Mini Disc, it could store 1TB.
I assume we could do double layer in the future for 2TB.
For comparison that is roughly 1000x times the capacity of UMD. I would love to have this. Burn a few of these as backup and call it a day.
idiotsecant 59 seconds ago [-]
Glass is one of the more stable things we can make. This seems pretty good! I don't have an application that requires ten thousand years of storage but I'm sure someone out there does!
That's ~7-18 days per 120mm x 120mm medium (4.8TB).
Glass prices stable for now. Also, the authors make no statement about horizontal vs. vertical storage.
NitpickLawyer 15 minutes ago [-]
Thanks for digging this up. Every "scientists create new storage medium" is always a disappointment when you get to see the write speeds. This seems decent? At least in "raw" numbers there's nothing obviously making this useless. Let's hope they have a path to quick commercialisation and make it available. If there's any DC adoption will be the real test, I think.
Yeah but then 1000 years from now nobody will have the right USB stick to read it.
I think we should stick to proven solutions for millennia-robust information storage and paint it on walls inside pyramids.
ortusdux 2 days ago [-]
Any idea why they are reporting the estimated lifespan at 290°C? Testing seems to have been done at 440°C and above.
casey2 2 days ago [-]
Coz the paper gives a function for extrapolating from these tests. This is purely testing thermal decay.
10,000 years sounds like a good benchmark and isn't as obviously ridiculous as saying a million years at 260°C
idiotsecant 6 minutes ago [-]
It's common to perform longevity testing at higher temperatures to simulate longer lifetimes, in account of nobody has decades of time to actually perform a 1x time test.
jmclnx 2 days ago [-]
The big question, is it patented to the point were no one can buy the burners and media ?
Will it run on Linux ?
misswaterfairy 5 minutes ago [-]
They're definitely pursuing patents...
> The authors of the paper have filed several patents relating to the subject matter contained in this paper in the name of Microsoft Corporation.
It's whether Microsoft will be fair and flexible licensing their patents to third-parties.
Otherwise I'd suggest that if they keep it all to themselves and charge like a wounded bull, uptake would be quite limited.
At least until the original patents expires, which might be the better strategic move for third-parties in light of a hostile Microsoft given how long this archival format is expected to last.
So a rough estimate, at the size of UMD, used in Playstation Portable, slightly smaller than the size of Mini Disc, it could store 1TB.
I assume we could do double layer in the future for 2TB.
For comparison that is roughly 1000x times the capacity of UMD. I would love to have this. Burn a few of these as backup and call it a day.
Wheres my futuristic storage guys?
I think we should stick to proven solutions for millennia-robust information storage and paint it on walls inside pyramids.
10,000 years sounds like a good benchmark and isn't as obviously ridiculous as saying a million years at 260°C
Will it run on Linux ?
> The authors of the paper have filed several patents relating to the subject matter contained in this paper in the name of Microsoft Corporation.
Page 12 of the paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10042-w.pdf
It's whether Microsoft will be fair and flexible licensing their patents to third-parties.
Otherwise I'd suggest that if they keep it all to themselves and charge like a wounded bull, uptake would be quite limited.
At least until the original patents expires, which might be the better strategic move for third-parties in light of a hostile Microsoft given how long this archival format is expected to last.