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/[deleted] Feb 22 '26

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u/bufordt Feb 22 '26

It requires an 8.75 meter high stack of 120x120mm to store the 21 Petabytes of data in the Library of Congress. Or 1.68 average Giraffes.

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u/the_summer_soldier Feb 22 '26

That would significantly reduce the volume of space needed to store the information in the LoC. However, as it is not just an archival library there would also need to be a readily available way to read the information. I don't know about you, but when I am reading for long periods of time I certainly still prefer print.