Million-year data storage disk' revealed

A hard disk that can store date for a million years - and survive being barbecued - has been unveiled by nanotechnologists.
 The optical storage disk that is designed to outlive humanity has been developed by Jeroen de Vries at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
Current hard disk drives have the ability to store vast amounts of data but last roughly ten years at room temperature, because their magnetic energy barrier is low so that the information is lost after a period of time.
De Vries' 'million year disk' is written using etching techniques, and is made of tungsten - used for its ability to survive extreme temperatures - and then covered in silicon nitride.
He tested its ageing abilities by frying, barbecuing and torching it, showing its energy barriers are high enough to prevent heat loss.
He said it would also withstand an hour in an oven at more than 200°C , which would represent more than 1 million years at normal temperatures.
De Vries said humans should think about storing information for long time and said: "One scenario is that a disaster has devastated the earth and society must rebuild the world.
"Another scenario could be that we create a kind of legacy for future intelligent life that evolves on Earth or comes from other worlds. You must then think about archival storage of between one million and one billion years.
"In principle, we can store everything on the disc that we believe is worthwhile saving: for example, a digital image of the Mona Lisa."
The optical information carrier uses complex technology of etching QR codes into the tungsten. Each pixel of the large QR code contains a smaller QR code that in turn stores different information.
Source: telegraph