SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — They've been the subject of science fiction TV shows and movies for years, but researchers have finally unveiled real computer memory crystals.
Researchers at the University of Southampton created this video to show how it works.
They call it "5-D" memory -- or the "Superman memory crystal" -- and their findings will be presented Wednesday in California.
A sophisticated laser engraves data onto tiny quartz glass discs using "nanostructures".
The etchings are called 5-D because they store information in five dimensions -- height, length, width, orientation, and position.
Each disc holds up to 360 *terabytes* of data -- equivalent to more than 22-thousand iPhones -- and they will last billions of years.
Already, developers have created storage discs for the King James Bible, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
They expect national archives, museums and libraries will be the first to use the technology.
WPXI
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
