tech
February 18, 2026
Stone, parchment or laser-written glass? Scientists find new way to preserve data
Hard disks and magnetic tape have a limited lifespan, but glass storage developed by Microsoft could last millennia
TL;DR
- Scientists have developed a new data storage method using laser-writing in glass, potentially enduring for millennia.
- The system encodes data as tiny deformations (voxels) within glass using a femtosecond laser.
- Experiments suggest the stored data can last over 10,000 years at room temperature.
- The technology can record 65.9m bits per second and store 4.84TB of data in a 12 sq cm piece of glass.
- Microsoft researchers have also explored using borosilicate glass, which is cheaper and more common.
- Data is read by sweeping the glass under an automated microscope and decoded using machine learning.
- The system is intended for use by large cloud companies rather than home offices.
- Challenges include ensuring future access to reading technology and the need for significant investment for large-scale deployment.
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