Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK successfully stored the entirety of the human genome sequence onto an indestructible 5D optical memory crystal no bigger.
Why it matters: If you could back up all the genetic blueprints for life on Earth to be revived millions of years from now after a mass extinction event, how would you do it? Scientists might have cracked the code – by encoding the entire human genome onto a data storage crystal that can theoretically last forever.
Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK successfully stored the entirety of the human genome sequence onto an indestructible 5D optical memory crystal no bigger than a penny. The indestructibility claims are no joke since the discs can withstand temperatures up to 1,000°C, cosmic radiation, and even direct impact forces of 10 tons per cm2.
Developed at Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre, the 5D memory crystals use ultra-fast lasers to inscribe data into “nanostructured voids orientated within silica.
