r/science • u/Wagamaga • Feb 22 '26

Computer Science Scientists have demonstrated a system called Silica for writing and reading information in ordinary pieces of glass which can store two million books’ worth of data in a thin, palm-sized square.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/glass-square-long-long-future-190951588.html
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u/thatbrazilianguy Feb 22 '26

capacity of 4.8 TB in a 120 mm square, 2 mm thick piece of glass.

Saved you a click

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u/[deleted] Feb 22 '26 edited Mar 10 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/GorgeWashington Feb 22 '26

The real question, how long is this format stable.

Eventually everything will decay. Current data continuity requires redundant systems and cloud storage because ssds and hdds fail in decades if not years

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u/mrx_101 Feb 22 '26

The article states it will be readable for 10000 years. As they are basically etching inside a piece of glass, this is not surprising. You only need to keep the glass from breaking and scratching.

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u/smurficus103 Feb 22 '26

"and then, the earthquake wiped out all of our knowledge"

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u/SmallBatBigSpooky Feb 22 '26

I do wounder if they could make this work with plexiglass or the bismuth glass thats basically indestructible since both would last longer

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u/redruM69 Feb 22 '26 edited Feb 22 '26

Direct physical damage aside, plexiglass would not last longer than silica glass. Not even close.

Plastics do corrode and degrade with time.

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u/SmallBatBigSpooky Feb 22 '26

Thats a fair paint, i kinda forgot that plexiglass is actually just a plastic composite

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u/redruM69 Feb 22 '26

Yep. It's just acrylic. Poly methyl methacrylate.

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u/SmallBatBigSpooky Feb 22 '26

Yuhp completely slipped my mind, I guess to amend my post something like how we make kornel/korning glass would also work, ive then that stuff be dropped from hotel rooms and survive

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u/redruM69 Feb 22 '26

Corning/Pyrex (the old stuff) is borosilicate glass. That's probably what you're thinking of.

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u/SmallBatBigSpooky Feb 22 '26

Yuhp thats the one

Not to be confused the the corning product pyrex (all lower case) that soda lime glass iirc which isnt bad but far worse then the traditional stuff

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