(Press-News.org) Using nanostructured glass, scientists at the University of Southampton have, for the first time, experimentally demonstrated the recording and retrieval processes of five dimensional digital data by femtosecond laser writing. The storage allows unprecedented parameters including 360 TB/disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1000°C and practically unlimited lifetime.
Coined as the 'Superman' memory crystal, as the glass memory has been compared to the "memory crystals" used in the Superman films, the data is recorded via self-assembled nanostructures created in fused quartz, which is able to store vast quantities of data for over a million years. The information encoding is realised in five dimensions: the size and orientation in addition to the three dimensional position of these nanostructures.
A 300 kb digital copy of a text file was successfully recorded in 5D using ultrafast laser, producing extremely short and intense pulses of light. The file is written in three layers of nanostructured dots separated by five micrometres (one millionth of a metre).
The self-assembled nanostructures change the way light travels through glass, modifying polarisation of light that can then be read by combination of optical microscope and a polariser, similar to that found in Polaroid sunglasses.
The research is led by the ORC researcher Jingyu Zhang and conducted under a joint project with Eindhoven University of Technology.
"We are developing a very stable and safe form of portable memory using glass, which could be highly useful for organisations with big archives. At the moment companies have to back up their archives every five to ten years because hard-drive memory has a relatively short lifespan," says Jingyu.
"Museums who want to preserve information or places like the national archives where they have huge numbers of documents, would really benefit."
The Physical Optics group from the ORC presented their ground-breaking paper at the photonics industry's renowned Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO'13) in San Jose. The paper, '5D Data Storage by Ultrafast Laser Nanostructuring in Glass' was presented by the during CLEO's prestigious post deadline session.
This work was done in the framework of EU project Femtoprint
Professor Peter Kazansky, the ORC's group supervisor, adds: "It is thrilling to think that we have created the first document which will likely survive the human race. This technology can secure the last evidence of civilisation: all we've learnt will not be forgotten."
The team are now looking for industry partners to commercialise this ground-breaking new technology.
INFORMATION:
5D optical memory in glass could record the last evidence of civilization
2013-07-09
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Method to improve blood supply to engineered replacement tissues
2013-07-09
New Rochelle, NY -- Next-generation hydrogels can form synthetic scaffolds to support the formation of replacement tissues and organs in the emerging area of regenerative medicine. Embedding peptides into the hydrogels stimulates the growth of essential microvascular networks to ensure a good blood supply. Novel, cutting-edge technology in which hydrogels functionalized with laminin-derived peptides were transplanted in a mouse cornea and were shown to support cell growth and blood vessel formation is described in an article in BioResearch Open Access, a peer-reviewed open ...
Wildfires may contribute more to global warming than previously predicted
2013-07-09
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 9, 2013—Wildfires produce a witch's brew of carbon-containing particles, as anyone downwind of a forest fire can attest. A range of fine carbonaceous particles rising high into the air significantly degrade air quality, damaging human and wildlife health, and interacting with sunlight to affect climate. But measurements taken during the 2011 Las Conchas fire near Los Alamos National Laboratory show that the actual carbon-containing particles emitted by fires are very different than those used in current computer models, providing the potential for ...
Robotic ultrasound gives surgeon more direct control in mapping and removing kidney cancers
2013-07-09
DETROIT – While the use of ultrasound to identify tumors during kidney cancer surgery is gaining acceptance, a research team at Henry Ford Hospital has successfully taken it a step further by showing an added benefit when the procedure is done robotically.
Simply put, the kidney surgeon who performs the ultrasound robotically has direct control over the painstaking procedure instead of having to rely on an assistant for part of the task.
The researchers compared the robotic ultrasound probe to the same procedure using a laparoscopic ultrasound probe, which requires an ...
Promise and caution shown in ongoing research into stem cell treatment of strokes
2013-07-09
DETROIT – While stem-cell therapy offers great promise for the treatment of stroke, much research remains to be done to show its long-term effectiveness and to understand the potential for dangerous side effects.
These are the conclusions drawn by Henry Ford Hospital neurologists Jing Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., and Michael Chopp, Ph.D., scientific director of the Henry Ford Hospital Neuroscience Institute, in a review of their own and other current research into the next-generation treatment of one of the leading causes of death and disability around the world. The article has ...
July/August 2013 Annals of Family Medicine tip sheet
2013-07-09
The Need for Discussion About Prostate Cancer Screening Choices, Optimizing Shared Decision Making
Three research studies and an accompanying editorial address the importance of shared decision making around prostate cancer screening. Although prostate cancer is among the most common cancers among men in the United States, the value of screening for prostate cancer by measuring prostate-specific antigen levels remains highly controversial because screening can lead to invasive procedures and treatments that in turn can cause substantial harm. Because such harms may outweigh ...
Fixed payments not a barrier to quality of care in HMOs, study finds
2013-07-09
Ever since the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, the number of enrollees in Medicare Advantage, Medicare's managed care program, has jumped from 5.3 million to 14.4 million in 2013. While most individuals in Medicare opt for the traditional, fee-for-service benefit, many more are enrolling in HMOs and other managed care options.
This dynamic heightens the importance of a question health care professionals and policymakers have been asking for many years: Does the system of fixed reimbursement inherent to HMOs and other forms of health ...
Annals of Internal Medicine tip Sheet for 9 July 2013
2013-07-09
1. Task force finds insufficient evidence to recommend for or against screening for primary open-angle glaucoma
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) found insufficient evidence to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in adults. Glaucoma is an acquired degeneration of the optic nerve that is the second most common cause of blindness worldwide. Open-angle is the most common type of glaucoma where an increase in pressure on the optic nerve occurs slowly over time. The goal of potential screening ...
Medicaid programs vary in coverage of preventive care, report says
2013-07-09
WASHINGTON, DC—Existing Medicaid beneficiaries have largely been left out of the health reform movement when it comes to preventive services that can ward off cancer, heart disease and other potentially deadly diseases, according to a new study by researchers at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).
The study, which appears in the July issue of Health Affairs, notes that under the Affordable Care Act most private insurance plans, Medicare and Medicaid expansion programs are required by law to cover a full range of crucial ...
Melody modulates choir members' heart rate
2013-07-09
When people sing in a choir their heart beats are synchronised, so that the pulse of choir members tends to increase and decrease in unison. This has been shown by a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg that examined the health effects for choir members.
In the research project "Kroppens Partitur" (The Body's Musical Score), researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy are studying how music, in purely biological terms, affects our body and our health. The object is to find new forms where music may be used for medical purposes, primarily within rehabilitation ...
Penn study sheds light on why low-income patients prefer hospital care to a doctor's office
2013-07-09
Philadelphia -- Patients with low socioeconomic status use emergency and hospital care more often than primary care because they believe hospital care is more affordable and convenient, and of better quality than care provided by primary care physicians, according to the results of a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of the study, appearing in the July issue of Health Affairs (and featured on its cover), have significant implications for policy initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act that seek ...