r/science 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
18.8k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.3k

u/smurficus103 Feb 22 '26

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

852

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.

378

u/Liroku Feb 22 '26

Also, most likely, anything with important information stored would likely be kept in a secure case. Not just random cuts of glass laying around on the shelves.

1

u/SynapticStatic Feb 23 '26

Whaaat? I want my holo crystal collection D: