h a l f b a k e r yNot so much a thought experiment as a single neuron misfire.
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Instead of storing information into CDs, or magnetic data
tape.
Why not combine the two?
Basically the writer would actively burn what is
essentially
a long 2D barcode on to an optical tape media. The
resultant film data will be visible under a microscope.
To read the data, it is done
via lenses and a highspeed
camera system.
------
The data doesn't have to be encoded as a custom binary
type. You could try QR/Datamatrix if you feel the need
for
futureproofing. Or you can etch an image if you think
that
is needed as well (Maybe the first part of the tape is
purely
analogue text describing the data and how to decode the
digital data.
-----
This would ensure that data will be accessible in the
future, with minimum equipment compared to other
technologies. (Since it is visible to the visible eye by a
microscope)
Optical Tapes are used in films
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_tape
[mofosyne, Mar 17 2015]
Plumbers' Teflon tape
http://www.acmehowt...ral/teflon-tape.php
As mentioned in an annotation. [Vernon, Mar 17 2015]
About computers and paper tape
http://www.computer...emory-storage/8/326
As mentioned in an annotation. [Vernon, Mar 17 2015]
Teflon Archive
The_20Teflon*_20Archive
Another Idea that uses Teflon for archival storage [Vernon, Mar 17 2015]
Resting on my laurels...
A_20staple_20form_20of_20memory
[normzone, Mar 18 2015]
[link]
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Any suggestions for a flexible, transparent
substrate that's going to be stable for a very long
time ? |
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The data may be visible under an optical microscope,
but so is the data on a CD. |
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//Any suggestions for a flexible, transparent substrate
that's going to be stable for a very long time ?// |
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Forget transparent. Burn through the tape to toggle a
bit,
and use stainless steel. And you wouldn't want to use a
standard barcode, because those have a defined length
dimension.
You'd probably want to use the equivalent of a long series
of
1D barcodes, with each one written across the width of
the
tape. |
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A kind of tape that probably can last a long time is Teflon
tape used by plumbers when sealing pipe-connections (see
link). Also, this Idea reminds me of old-fashioned "paper
tape" used early in the computer industry...literally a long
strip of paper with holes punched through it. I suppose
that nowadays we could put microscopic holes in the Teflon
tape, and read it easily enough. |
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Thin stainless steel strip - almost foil - could be laser-drilled to a
high bit density and would certainly be durable. Optical reading
would be very simple, by transmission. |
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I would strongly advocate the use of clams. There
are clam species that live for >1000 years. |
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If data were encoded by using an ion gun to embed
distinctive metal ions into the shells of these clams
when young, it would be possible to recover the data
later by using laser ablation coupled with mass spec.
The data would be secure not only for the lifetime of
the clam, but potentially for some time afterwards. |
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There is a precedent for this. Clam-divers in Vanuatu
traditionally scribe a series of marks into the shells of
a proportion of the clams they recover, and then
return these to the seabed. It is held to be a sign of
good fortune when a clam is recovered which bears
these scribed marks. |
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Any clams that claimed good fortune in Vanuatu this week
would probably be denounced for liars and hit with a
hammer. |
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Teflon tape is stretchy, which may be a difficulty. |
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Thing is, all the stuff we think is important and ought
to be preserved for posterity - future generations will
quite rightly consider it crap anyway. |
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Of course,
there will probably be historians, but they make their
living by speculating from limited data, so we'll be
doing them a favour if our current information is
mostly lost or hard to retrieve. What we ought to do
(if we're worried about the livelihoods of future
historians) is to write about 0.1% of the important
stuff on leather, then bury it at widely-scattered
locations, preferably in peat bogs. |
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Hmmm ... how about tattooing 1% of the important
stuff on politcians, then bury them at widely-
scattered locations, preferably in peat bogs, hoping
for a 10% success rate for "natural" tanning ? |
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So... you couldn't have a "recall" election until after the
politician had been "archived"? |
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Unlikely ... why, do you think that might be a problem ? |
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