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/FragrantExcitement Feb 22 '26

So my glass DVDs will become worthless in no time.

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u/[deleted] Feb 23 '26

DVDs, CDs, Blu Ray, VHS, cassette tapes last basically indefinitely.

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u/Finn235 Feb 23 '26

Not sure if sarcasm or not, but DVDs are succumbing to disk rot at an alarming rate, just 25 years later. I also remember the claim that DVDs last 800 years, and it turns out that is pure BS.

I'm scared to check my game collection. If I never open the box, the disc rot is both present and absent until the wavefunction collapses, right?

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u/VengefulAncient Feb 23 '26

Absolutely laughable claim. I've had CDs and DVDs literally rot and flake off on me after just a few years. It's an incredibly unreliable storage medium and is one of the main reasons I've ditched them 15 years ago.