Long-Term Records Management

Nature journal reports that it is possible to make 1,6 TB of information fit on a DVD-sized disk thanks to the new method called "five-dimensional"- 5-D optical recording. Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia added three "dimensions" to the two spacial dimesions that DVDs and CDs already have: spectral (colour), polarization and spacial - recording information in 10 layers of the nano-rod films. As a result, the scientists say they have achieved unprecedented data density. Unlike the holographic recording methods 5-D recording is bit-by-bit which allows to read each piece of information sequentially.