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Not exactly the mechanical devices we use today…these are different, much different.
According to Neowin.net, ANDRA, the French nuclear waste management agency is developing disk technology “made of sapphire and that should last for millions of years to let the offspring of humanity know that there is nuclear waste buried beneath the ground.” A very noble endeavor to say the least.
How does it work?
Basically, 2 disks made of industrial grade sapphire store information with platinum-based etchings, not digitally written… 40,000 miniaturized pages of information actually etched into the sapphire. All you would need in 10 million years to read them is a microscope. Queue the Microfiche flashbacks from high school and college. The difference: the longevity and the cost. Researchers were able to simulate the aging process of these new hard disks, and they believe they should last at least 1 million years, with hopes to prove longevity to 10 million…all at the low cost of $25,000 per disk. A prototype is being shown at the Euroscience Open Forum 2012 held in Dublin.
The location of nuclear waste is definitely worthy of sharing with future “beings.” What else is worth preserving?
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