Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts millennia

>4.84TB in a single slab of glass, (the slabs are 12 cm x 12 cm and 0.2 cm thick).

So a rough estimate, at the size of UMD, used in Playstation Portable, slightly smaller than the size of Mini Disc, it could store 1TB.

I assume we could do double layer in the future for 2TB.

For comparison that is roughly 1000x times the capacity of UMD. I would love to have this. Burn a few of these as backup and call it a day.

Current write speed (No read speed given):

    Blu-ray (1×)            ~36   Mbit/s
    MS-Glass (single beam)  ~25.6 Mbit/s
    MS-Glass (multi-beam)   ~65.9 Mbit/s

Paper [Laser writing in glass for dense, fast and efficient archival data storage](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10042-w)

I swear this happens at least once a year.

Wheres my futuristic storage guys?

Any idea why they are reporting the estimated lifespan at 290°C? Testing seems to have been done at 440°C and above.

I have read a variation of this headline once every 2 years since the early 2000s, yet never seen it turn into something real (that a consumer / enterprise can buy).

The big question, is it patented to the point were no one can buy the burners and media ?

Will it run on Linux ?

Yeah but then 1000 years from now nobody will have the right USB cable to read it.

I think we should stick to proven solutions for millennia-robust information storage and paint it on walls inside pyramids.

Glass is one of the more stable things we can make. This seems pretty good! I don't have an application that requires ten thousand years of storage but I'm sure someone out there does!

also at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47065175