ANDRA working on HDD that lasts 10 million years

Posted on Monday, July 16 2012 @ 17:15 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
French nuclear waste management agency ANDRA is designing a an ultra-durable hard disk which they hope can reach a durability of 10 million years. The disk is made from two different disks (20cm across) of industrial-grade sapphire molecularly fused together, with platinum-based etchings to store information. Costing roughly $25,000 to make, the disk will contain 40,000 miniaturized pages readable via a simple microscope.
The data stored on the sapphire disk contains 40,000 miniaturized (not digital) pages, and the future archaeologists will just need a simple microscope to read them. ANDRA researchers tested the disk durability by immersing it in acid to simulate the ageing process: the “unit” should last 1 million year at least, the researchers stated, while they hope to prove a durability of 10 million years soon.

The sapphire hard disk is one of the solutions ANDRA and other European organizations dealing with nuclear waste are trying to develop to answer a very difficult question: how to inform the future generations about the proximity of a nuclear deposit and the right way to deal with the radioactive waste it contains?
Source: Neowin


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Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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