Storing sensitive data is getting more and more critical every day. Storing data is not an easy task; many possible problems may result in losing the whole data. Even for the best-case scenario where the drive is kept super-safe, the lifespan of the current storage technology goes up to only 40 years, not more. You’ll need to carry the data to another drive before the time expires, which also opens the doors for possible risks while migrating.
Painting as binary code
Scientists from Harvard University, George Whitesides laboratory, have developed a new tech, or let’s say a technique, to store data. With the new approach, data can be written on an epoxy surface by seven common mixtures of fluorescent dye via an inkjet printer. A special microscope that can detect different wavelengths should be used to decode binary messages to read the written data.
Because of the nature of the method, the data can be stored for thousands of years, requires no electricity to keep the data, and is immune to water damage. We should also mention that it is also completely resistant to hacking too. This makes the dye-based solution very appealing for storing sensitive data to archive.
Compared to current technologies, the new storage technique has a very, very low speed. It can write up to 16 bytes per second and read 58 bytes per second. For comparison, backup tapes can be read and written up to 700 MB/s, while the most advanced NVMe’s can reach 13.000 MB/s read and 6.600 MB/s write speeds. However, the dye-based solution is still the fastest molecular data storage technique to date.
Immortality is the essential trait of this technology to deliver our messages to future generations.