Microsoft has succeeded in capturing the complete Hollywood movie "Superman" by Warner Bros. on a new and particularly durable storage medium. As part of the project "Silica" researchers have managed to save the blockbuster published in 1978 on a glass piece the size of a saucer, explains Microsoft manager Jennifer Langston in a blog entry.
In their project, the researchers have therefore used recent discoveries in ultra-fast laser optics and artificial intelligence to use glass as a storage medium can. The new technology is based on the fact that a so-called femtolaser writes microscopic grids and other forms as data storage in several levels in the transparent material.
For reading, the glass pane is irradiated with polarized light, the resulting images and patterns are interpreted by algorithms that were trained by machine learning for this task. The storage capacity of such a laser-loaded with information disk specifies Microsoft with 75.6 gigabytes. That's about the same capacity as 16 unilaterally described DVDs.
Microsoft / John Brecher
The complete Superman movie from 1978 on a glass screen
In addition to the storage capacity, it is above all the enormous resistance and durability that characterizes the new medium. According to Microsoft, the quartz glass panes are insensitive to high and low temperatures and magnetic fields.
In contrast to conventional storage media such as hard disks and magnetic tapes, which are stored in well-protected and air-conditioned rooms, data stored on such media could virtually be buried in a box in the garden in order to preserve it for posterity. It could also withstand environmental influences, floods and earthquakes. Thus, the method would be particularly suitable for the long-term storage of data from historical archives or for cultural treasures, writes manager Langston.
Longer-term data
The storage of the entire "Superman" film in glass is an important milestone, said Microsoft manager Mark Russinovich. He does not believe that "all the questions have been fully answered, but it looks like we are now in a phase of refining and experimenting rather than asking, 'Can we do it?' "
Warner Bros. has been looking for Microsoft's blog entry for years to find ways to archive its valuable holdings of old films and radio recordings on storage media that last hundreds of years and do not need to be constantly updated.
Microsoft presented the new storage technology on Monday night at its developer conference Ignite in Orlando, Florida.