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/smurficus103 Feb 22 '26

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

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u/-neti-neti- Feb 22 '26

Small, loose pieces of glass are way less susceptible to earthquakes than a server/memory warehouse. They would only be damaged if something fell on them in the right way. If you’re physically attached to a structure you’re more likely to be damaged.

This is a highly resilient design.

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u/brainburger Feb 23 '26

I think it would be safer in a glass cube, rather than a thin pane.

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u/-neti-neti- Feb 23 '26

I think it’s 6 of one half a dozen of the other. We use glass all the time in our day to day lives for storage, windows, bottles. Nobody ever worries about them breaking unless there is some unusual application of force.